Causal role of metabolites in non-small cell lung cancer: Mendelian randomization (MR) study

PLoS One. 2024 Mar 22;19(3):e0300904. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300904. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

On a global scale, lung cancer(LC) is the most commonly occurring form of cancer. Nonetheless, the process of screening and detecting it in its early stages presents significant challenges. Earlier research endeavors have recognized metabolites as potentially reliable biomarkers for LC. However, the majority of these studies have been limited in scope, featuring inconsistencies in terms of the relationships and levels of association observed.Moreover, there has been a lack of consistency in the types of biological samples utilized in previous studies. Therefore, the main objective of our research was to explore the correlation between metabolites and Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Thorough two-sample Mendelian randomization (TSMR) analysis, we investigated potential cause-and-effect relationships between 1400 metabolites and the risk of NSCLC.The analysis of TSMR revealed a significant causal impact of 61 metabolites on NSCLC.To ensure the reliability and validity of our findings, we perform FDR correction for P-values by Benjaminiand Hochberg(BH) method, Our results indicate that Oleate/vaccenate (18:1) levels and Caffeine to paraxanthine ratio may be causally associated with an increased risk of NSCLC [Oleate/vaccenate(18:1)levels: OR = 1.171,95%CI: 1.085-1.265, FDR = 0.036; Caffeine to paraxanthine ratio: OR = 1.386, 95%CI:1.191-1.612,FDR = 0.032].

MeSH terms

  • Caffeine
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung* / genetics
  • Genome-Wide Association Study
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms* / genetics
  • Mendelian Randomization Analysis
  • Oleic Acid
  • Reproducibility of Results

Substances

  • Caffeine
  • Oleic Acid

Grants and funding

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.