The role of dietary preferences in osteoarthritis: a Mendelian randomization study using genome-wide association analysis data from the UK Biobank
Long Chen Front. Nutr., 29 April 2024
Background: To understand the impact of individual preferences for specific dietary items on OA, and to help inform the development of effective and targeted OA prevention and management strategies, we performed a Mendelian randomization analysis between dietary preferences and osteoarthritis.
Methods: This study utilized genetic data from the UK Biobank to investigate the association between OA and 21 different common dietary items. Instrumental variables representing European populations were carefully selected based on their genetic significance and linkage disequilibrium. In cases where a dietary item had few relevant genetic markers, a more lenient selection threshold was applied. To prevent bias, the analysis excluded single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with factors such as body mass index (BMI) and cholesterol. Using inverse-variance weighting (IVW) and Mendelian randomization, significant associations were detected between certain dietary items and OA.
Results: Using Mendelian randomization to examine the relationship between 21 different dietary items and OA, significant associations were found for coffee, peas, watercress, and cheese, where the first two had a promoting effect and the last two an inhibiting effect on OA. Due to heterogeneity in the test results for cheese, a random IVW representation was used. The results of sensitivity analysis showed no significant heterogeneity or horizontal pleiotropy in the selected SNPS, demonstrating the reliability of Mendelian randomization analysis.
Conclusion: This study identified coffee, peas, watercress, and cheese as food items that may have significant dietary effects on osteoarthritis. This information may be useful to consider in the development of OA management strategies.
Several studies have pointed to the relationship between coffee and OA (25–27). A cross-sectional study found that consuming more than 7 cups of coffee per day was linked to a higher risk of OA in men, and this risk increased with the amount of coffee consumption (26). A recent review also summarized experimental as well as clinical evidence on the negative effects of caffeine on hyaline cartilage, including its catabolic effects on articular and growth plate cartilage (28). Other studies have suggested an indirect effect of caffeine on the relationship between inflammatory factors and articular cartilage, with caffeine intake being associated with the expression of inflammatory cytokines IL-1 and TNF-α (29).