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Diet and risk of low back pain: a Mendelian randomization analysis

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Abstract

Purpose

Previous epidemiological and other studies have shown an association between diet and low back pain (LBP). This study aimed to investigate the causal relationship between diet and LBP using a Mendelian randomization (MR) approach.

Methods

The three main methods in this study were weighted median, MR-Egger, and inverse variance weighting (IVW). We utilized MR-PRESSO to eliminate abnormal SNPs. Additionally, tests for pleiotropy and heterogeneity were conducted. Utilizing IVW and MR-Egger’s Cochran’s Q test, heterogeneity was evaluated. MR-Egger intercepts were used in pleiotropy tests. A leave-one-out analysis was also used to evaluate the stability of the study’s findings.

Results

The frequency of alcohol intake was associated with an increased risk of LBP. Increased processed meat intake, dried fruit intake, cereal intake, and tea intake were causally associated with a decreased risk of LBP (alcohol intake frequency: odds ratio (OR) = 1.28; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.11–1.47; P = 0.0006; processed meat intake: OR = 0.60, 95%CI 0.39–0.92, P = 0.019; dried fruit intake: OR = 0.43, 95%CI 0.29–0.66, P = 0.00008; cereal intake: OR = 0.62, 95%CI 0.42–0.92, P = 0.018; tea intake: OR = 0.75, 95%CI 0.58–0.97, P = 0.029). Heterogeneity and pleiotropy were also not found in the sensitivity analysis. The leave-one-out analysis also showed more robust results. Other dietary intakes were not causally associated with LBP.

Conclusions

This two-sample MR study found that frequency of alcohol intake was associated with an increased risk of LBP, and intake of processed meat, dried fruit, cereals, and tea was associated with a decreased risk of LBP. Moreover, no causal relationship was found with LBP in the other 13 diets.

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Data availability

All data used in the current study are publicly available GWAS data. And the pooled data used and analyzed in the present study are available from the article or supplemental materials.

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Acknowledgements

Our data are taken from the publicly available GWAS database. We thank the genetics consortiums for publicly making the GWAS summary data available.

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Author notes

  1. Shanshan Liu, Xiaofeng Lv and Xinmin Deng have contributed equally to this work and share first authorship.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Acupuncture and Tuina, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 610075, China

    Shanshan Liu, Xiaofeng Lv, Xinmin Deng, Rui Lai & Jihang Du

  2. Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 610072, Sichuan, China

    Xiaofeng Lv & Jihang Du

  3. Sichuan Integrative Medicine Hospital, Chengdu, 610042, Sichuan, China

    Chao Wang

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  1. Shanshan Liu
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. SSL, XFL, XMD, and CW were involved in study design, data collection, and statistical analysis. SSL, XFL, RL, and JHD were involved in writing—original draft. SSL, XFL, XMD, RL, JHD, and CW were involved in writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Chao Wang.

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Liu, S., Lv, X., Deng, X. et al. Diet and risk of low back pain: a Mendelian randomization analysis. Eur Spine J 33, 496–504 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-023-07970-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-023-07970-4

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