Association between type 2 diabetes, alcohol intake frequency, age at menarche, and gallbladder cancer: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Abstract

Background

Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is a rare malignancy of the digestive tract, characterized by a remarkably poor prognosis. Currently, there is a controversy on the relationship between type 2 diabetes (T2D) and GBC. Additionally, no definitive conclusions were established regarding the causal relationships between alcohol intake frequency (AIF), age at menarche (AAM) and GBC. The objective of this study was to elucidate the causal association between T2D, AIF, AAM, and GBC.

Methods

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with exposures and outcomes were sourced from the Integrative Epidemiology Unit (IEU) Open Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) database. Specifically, the data of GBC comprised 907 East Asians (pathological results of all cases were registered into Biobank Japan) and 425,707 SNPs; T2D comprised 655,666 Europeans with 5,030,727 SNPs; AIF comprised 462,346 Europeans and 9,851,867 SNPs; AAM comprised 243,944 Europeans and 9,851,867 SNPs. The measurement of exposure traits is collected uniformly from the UK Biobank (UKB) database and presented in the form of standard deviation (SD) or the logarithmic form of the odds ratio (logOR). We employed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to discern the causalities between T2D, AIF, AAM, and GBC. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to identify and address potential heterogeneity, horizontal pleiotropy, and outliers.

Results

Our findings indicated that T2D reduced GBC risk [odds ratio (OR) =0.044; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.004–0.55; P=0.015, inverse variance-weighted (IVW)]. However, no causal relationship was observed between AIF (OR =0.158; 95% CI: 5.33E−05 to 466.84; P=0.65, IVW), AAM (OR =0.19; 95% CI: 0.0003–140.34; P=0.62, IVW), and GBC. Sensitivity analysis revealed no evidence of horizontal pleiotropy, heterogeneity, or outliers, suggesting the robustness and reliability of our conclusions.

Conclusions

T2D emerged as a potentially protective factor against GBC, whereas neither AIF nor AAM demonstrated a causal relationship with GBC risk. Regulation of glucose metabolism may be one of the methods for preventing GBC.