Genetically predicted causal associations between periodontitis and psychiatric disorders

Background

Psychiatric disorders have serious harm to individuals’ lives with high disease burden. Observational studies reported inconsistent associations between periodontitis and some psychiatric disorders, and the causal correlations between them remain unknown.

Objective

This study aims to explore the causal associations between periodontitis and psychiatric disorders.

Methods

A series of two-sample Mendelian randomisation (MR) analyses were employed using genome-wide association study summary statistics for periodontitis in adults from Gene-Lifestyle Interactions in Dental Endpoints Consortium and 10 psychiatric disorders from Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Causal effects were primarily estimated using the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method. Various sensitivity analyses were also conducted to assess the robustness of our results.

Findings

The MR analysis suggested that genetically determined periodontitis was not causally associated with 10 psychiatric disorders (IVW, all p>0.089). Furthermore, the reverse MR analysis revealed that 10 psychiatric disorders had no causal effect on periodontitis (IVW, all p>0.068). We discovered that all the results were consistent in the four MR analytical methods, including the IVW, MR-Egger, weighted median and weighted mode. Besides, we did not identify any heterogeneity or horizontal pleiotropy in the sensitivity analysis.

Conclusions

These results do not support bidirectional causal associations between genetically predicted periodontitis and 10 common psychiatric disorders. Potential confounders might contribute to the previously observed associations.

Clinical implications

Our findings might alleviate the concerns of patients with periodontitis or psychiatric disorders. However, further research was warranted to delve into the intricate relationship between dental health and mental illnesses.