Exploration of the association between 91 inflammatory proteins and immune thrombocytopenia: a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to explore the association between 91 circulating inflammatory proteins and immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) using Mendelian randomization (MR).

METHODS

Data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on 91 inflammatory proteins were aggregated from the Olink Target platform, involving 14,824 participants. ITP data were sourced from the Integrative Epidemiology Unit OPEN GWAS project, which included 675 ITP patients and 488,749 controls. Mendelian randomization analysis was primarily conducted using inverse-variance weighting (IVW), supplemented by MR-Egger, weighted median, simple mode, and weighted mode. Pleiotropy and heterogeneity of the instrumental variables were assessed using the MR-Egger-intercept test and Cochran's Q test, with results visualized through scatter plots, funnel plots, and leave-one-out plots.

RESULTS

The IVW method indicated an association between six specific circulating inflammatory proteins and ITP. Four proteins (CCL4, CXCL9, IL-12B, and SCF) were positively associated with ITP, while two proteins (IL-1α, TRANCE) showed a negative correlation.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest a potential link between circulating inflammatory proteins and ITP, providing insights for future therapeutic strategies and biomarker identification.