Causal association between tea intake and risk for gout: a Mendelian randomization study

Green Tea Intake: A Protective Factor Against Postsurgical Hypothyroidism and Hypoparathyroidism

PURPOSE

Tea and coffee are the most commonly consumed types of drinks, identified with multiple health benefits. However, the association between tea and coffee intake and postsurgical hypothyroidism and hypoparathyroidism (PHypoTP) is still unclear. Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore the effect of tea and coffee intake on the risk of PHypoTP.

DESIGN

Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR).

METHODS

The primary approach for MR estimates was the inverse-variance-weighted method. MR-Egger, MR Pleiotropy RESidual Sum and Outlier (PRESSO), weighted median, simple mode, and weighted mode were used to detect pleiotropy and heterogeneity.

FINDINGS

We found that green tea intake was causally associated with the decreased risk of PHypoTP (β = -0.019; 95% confidence interval: -0.038 to -0.001; P = .029). However, there was no significant association between coffee intake and the risk of PHypoTP. No heterogeneity or pleiotropy in these results was detected.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings provide the genetic evidence supporting that green tea intake was a protective factor against PHypoTP. Accordingly, we may suggest that patients after thyroidectomy to add green tea into their habitual diet during nursing education.

The relationship between education attainment and gout, and the mediating role of modifiable risk factors: a Mendelian randomization study

Objective

To investigate the causal relationship between educational attainment (EA) and gout, as well as the potential mediating effects of individual physical status (IPS) such as body mass index (BMI) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) and lifestyle habits (LH) including alcohol intake frequency (drinking), current tobacco smoking (smoking), and time spent watching television (TV).

Methods

Utilizing two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR), we analyzed the causal effects of EA on gout risk, and of IPS (BMI and SBP) and LH (smoking, drinking, and TV time) on gout risk. Multivariable MR (MVMR) was employed to explore and quantify the mediating effects of IPS and LH on the causal relationship between EA and gout risk.

Results

An elevation of educational attainment by one standard deviation (4.2 years) exhibited a protective effect against gout (odds ratio 0.724, 95% confidence interval 0.552-0.950; p = 0.020). We did not observe a causal relationship between smoking and gout, but BMI, SBP, drinking, and TV time were found to be causal risk factors for gout. Moreover, BMI, SBP, drinking, and TV time acted as mediating factors in the causal relationship between EA and gout risk, explaining 27.17, 14.83, 51.33, and 1.10% of the causal effects, respectively.

Conclusion

Our study indicates that having a genetically predicted higher level of EA may provide protection against gout. We found that this relationship is influenced by IPS factors such as BMI and SBP, as well as LH including drinking and TV time.