Page 60 - JCBP-3-3

Journal of Clinical and

Basic Psychosomatics

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
The causal relationship between depression and

chronic pancreatitis: A Mendelian randomization
study

Dishuang Hu 1† , Ruxin Yu 2† , Jiacheng Rong 3 , Yue Zhang * , and
4
Shuliang Zhao *
2
1 Department of Gastroenterology, Ningbo Hangzhou Bay Hospital (Ningbo Branch of Renji Hospital,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai), Ningbo, China
2 Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology; Shanghai Institute of Digestive Disease; NHC Key
Laboratory of Digestive Diseases; State Key Laboratory for Oncogenes and Related Genes, Renji
Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
3 Department of Cardiology, Ningbo Hangzhou Bay Hospital (Ningbo Branch of Renji Hospital,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai), Ningbo, China
4 Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
† These authors contributed equally
to this work.
*Corresponding authors:
Shuliang Zhao
(zhaosl@sjtu.edu.cn) Abstract
Yue Zhang
(yue.zhang@sjtu.edu.cn) Observational studies have suggested a high prevalence of depression among
Citation: Hu D, Yu R, Rong J, patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP). However, the effects of depression on
Zhang Y, Zhao S. The causal CP and the causal relationship between the two conditions remain unclear. We
relationship between depression performed two-sample and multivariable Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses,
and chronic pancreatitis:
A Mendelian randomization as well as a two-step MR analysis, to investigate their causal associations. Data on
study. J Clin Basic Psychosom. depression and CP were obtained from summary statistics of non-overlapping
2025;3(3):54-64. samples in a genome-wide association study. Two-sample and multivariable MR
doi: 10.36922/jcbp.5892 analyses were conducted to explore the association between depression and CP.
Received: November 12, 2024 A subsequent two-step MR analysis explored the causal pathways between the
1st revised: January 20, 2025 two conditions and the role of mediators in this process. Genetically, predicted
depression (per 1 standard deviation) showed a positive association with CP (odds
2nd revised: February 17, 2025 ratio [OR]: 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03 – 1.86; P = 0.03). The causal
3rd revised: February 18, 2025 relationship was confirmed after adjusting for smoking, drinking, type 2 diabetes,
Accepted: February 19, 2025 body mass index, and triglycerides. We found that triglycerides (OR: 1.02; 95%
CI: 1.01 – 1.04; P = 0.004), type 2 diabetes (OR: 1.03; 95% CI: 1.01 – 1.06; P = 0.030),
Published online: March 13, 2025 and smoking initiation (OR: 1.06; 95% CI: 1.01 – 1.13; P = 0.046) may mediate
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s). the causal relationship between depression and CP, with the mediating effect
This is an Open-Access article accounting for 6.14%, 7.84%, and 17.06% of the total effect, respectively. Our study
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution provides evidence for an independent causal effect of depression on CP, offering
License, permitting distribution, new insights into the correlation between depression and inflammation. Further
and reproduction in any medium, research is necessary to clarify the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this
provided the original work is
properly cited. causal association.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with Keywords: Depression; Chronic pancreatitis; Mendelian randomization; Genome-wide
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional association study
affiliations.

Volume 3 Issue 3 (2025) 54 doi: 10.36922/jcbp.5892