Biomedical subjects

Xian Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Xian Zhang.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2026

Causal Relationships Between Oral Microbiota and Inflammatory Skin Diseases.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: The oral microbiome has been increasingly linked to systemic inflammation and immune dysregulation, but whether specific oral bacteria causally contribute to inflammatory skin diseases remains unclear due to confounding and reverse causation. This study aimed to assess the causal effects of 43 oral microbiota taxa on the risk of five inflammatory skin diseases using a Mendelian randomization (MR) approach. METHODS: We performed a two-sample MR analysis using genetic instruments for oral microbiota derived from publicly available genome-wide association studies and outcome data from the FinnGen consortium. Causal effects of oral taxa on systemic lupus erythematosus, vitiligo, pemphigus, localized scleroderma, and dermatitis herpetiformis were estimated. The inverse-variance weighted method served as the primary analysis, complemented by sensitivity analyses to evaluate horizontal pleiotropy, heterogeneity, and reverse causality. RESULTS: MR analyses identified several putative causal associations between oral microbiota and inflammatory skin diseases. Genus Granulicatella and an unknown Streptococcus species (ASV0009) showed causal effects on systemic lupus erythematosus. Family Lachnospiraceae_[XIV] and an unknown Rothia species (ASV0016) were associated with vitiligo. Five oral microbiota taxa demonstrated causal associations with pemphigus. Actinomyces species micronuciformis was linked to localized scleroderma. Order Fusobacteriales and an unknown Neisseria species (ASV0004) were associated with dermatitis herpetiformis. No significant heterogeneity or horizontal pleiotropy was detected in sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSION: This MR study provides genetic evidence supporting a causal role of specific oral bacteria in the development of several inflammatory skin diseases, highlighting the oral microbiome as a potential contributor to cutaneous autoimmunity and inflammation. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Our findings highlight the putative role of the oral microbiome as a plausible candidate for mechanistic and clinical investigations into the prevention or adjunctive management of selected inflammatory skin diseases. However, oral hygiene improvement, targeted antimicrobials, and other microbiota-directed interventions were not directly tested in this MR study and remain hypothetical strategies requiring validation in experimental and clinical studies.

Humans↗

PubMed2024

Is there a causal relationship between resistin levels and bone mineral density, fracture occurrence? A mendelian randomization study.

BACKGROUND: In a great many of observational studies, whether there is a relevance of resistin levels on bone mineral density (BMD) and fracture occurrence has been inconsistently reported, and the causality is unclear. METHODS: We aim to assess the resistin levels on BMD and fracture occurrence within a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Exposure and outcome data were derived from the Integrative Epidemiology Unit (IEU) Open genome wide association studies (GWAS) database. Screening of instrumental variables (IVs) was performed subject to conditions of relevance, exclusivity, and independence. Inverse variance weighting (IVW) was our primary method for MR analysis based on harmonized data. Weighted median and MR-Egger were chosen to evaluate the robustness of the results of IVW. Simultaneously, heterogeneity and horizontal pleiotropy were also assessed and the direction of potential causality was detected by MR Steiger. Multivariable MR (MVMR) analysis was used to identify whether confounding factors affected the reliability of the results. RESULTS: After Bonferroni correction, the results showed a suggestively positive causality between resistin levels and total body BMD (TB-BMD) in European populations over the age of 60 [β(95%CI): 0.093(0.021, 0.165), P = 0.011]. The weighted median [β(95%CI): 0.111(0.067, 0.213), P = 0.035] and MR-Egger [β(95%CI): 0.162(0.025, 0.2983), P = 0.040] results demonstrate the robustness of the IVW results. No presence of pleiotropy or heterogeneity was detected between them. MR Steiger supports the causal inference result and MVMR suggests its direct effect. CONCLUSIONS: In European population older than 60 years, genetically predicted higher levels of resistin were associated with higher TB-BMD. A significant causality between resistin levels on BMD at different sites, fracture in certain parts of the body, and BMD in four different age groups between 0-60 years of age was not found in our study.

Bone Density↗

PubMed2018

E3 Ligase VHL Promotes Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cell Maturation and Function via Glycolysis Inhibition and Induction of Interleukin-33 Receptor.

Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) are a specialized subset of lymphoid effector cells that are critically involved in allergic responses; however, the mechanisms of their regulation remain unclear. We report that conditional deletion of the E3 ubiquitin ligase VHL in innate lymphoid progenitors minimally affected early-stage bone marrow ILC2s but caused a selective and intrinsic decrease in mature ILC2 numbers in peripheral non-lymphoid tissues, resulting in reduced type 2 immune responses. VHL deficiency caused the accumulation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) and attenuated interleukin-33 (IL-33) receptor ST2 expression, which was rectified by HIF1α ablation or inhibition. HIF1α-driven expression of the glycolytic enzyme pyruvate kinase M2 downmodulated ST2 expression via epigenetic modification and inhibited IL-33-induced ILC2 development. Our study indicates that the VHL-HIF-glycolysis axis is essential for the late-stage maturation and function of ILC2s via targeting IL-33-ST2 pathway.

Animals↗