Associations between the gut microbiota and prostatitis: visions from a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis

Background: A growing body of research indicates a substantial correlation between the gut microbiota and prostatitis. However, there is still a lack of relevant evidence at the big data level. Two-sample Mendelian randomization was employed to evaluate the association between the gut microbiota and prostatitis. Materials and methods We performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study by applying combined data on the gut microbiota and prostatitis from the extensive genome-wide association study (GWAS) undertaken by the MiBioGen consortium. The primary method considered to analyze causal relationships was inverse variance weighting (IVW) in the TwoSampleMR (TSMR) framework. Furthermore, we performed various sensitivity analyses to evaluate the reliability of the outcomes obtained through the TSMR. Result With the current TSMR analysis, we found that the Parasutterella genus [OR = 0.74,(0.57–0.96),P = 0.023], RuminococcaceaeUCG009 genus [OR = 0.77(0.60–0.98),P = 0.03], Eubacterium(coprostanoligenes group) genus[OR = 0.66(0.45–0.96),P = 0.03], Erysipelatoclostridium genus [ OR = 0.71(0.55–0.92),P = 0.01], Slackia genus [OR = 1.28(1.03–1.59),P = 0.03] may have a protective effect against prostatitis, in the meanwhile Lachnospiraceae (UCG004) genus[OR = 1.54(1.10–2.18), P = 0.01], Faecalibacterium genus[OR = 1.59(1.08–2.34), P = 0.018], Sutterella genus [OR = 1.28(1.03–1.59), P = 0.03], Sterella genus[OR = 1.28(1.03–1.59), P = 0.03], Sutterella genus [OR = 1.58(1.13–2.19), P = 0.007], Paraprevotella genus [OR = 1.28(1.03–1.59), P = 0.03], Odoribacter genus [OR = 1.68(1.01–2.81), P = 0.046] suggested a possible risk factor for prostatitis. There was no adequate evidence of directional horizontal pleiotropy or instrumental variable heterogeneity. The reverse TSMR analysis did not reveal any reverse causal relationship between prostatitis and the gut microbiota. Conclusion Our study established a causal relationship between the intestinal flora and prostatitis, suggesting a novel approach for therapeutic investigations of this disease. Specifically, by targeting and regulating the dysbiosis of specific bacterial taxa, prostatitis prevention and treatment can be improved.