Investigating the complex roles of immunocyte phenotypes in the pathogenesis of dermatitis: a causal inference Mendelian randomization analysis

Abstract

The etiology of dermatitis involves complex interactions between immune cells, genetics, and environmental factors. While immunocyte phenotypes have been linked to various forms of dermatitis, their causal role remains unclear. We conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to investigate the causal effects between 731 immunocyte phenotypes and four types of dermatitis: atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, infective dermatitis, and seborrhoeic dermatitis. Genetic variants were used as instrumental variables, and the inverse variance-weighted (IVW) method was employed to assess causality. Sensitivity analyses were performed to ensure robustness. The forward MR analysis identified significant associations between 22 immunocyte phenotypes and atopic dermatitis, 8 phenotypes with contact dermatitis, 5 with infective dermatitis, and 6 with seborrhoeic dermatitis. The reverse MR analysis suggested potential bidirectional interactions of atopic dermatitis and CD3 on CD28 + CD45RA- CD8br (OR = 0.924, P = 0.012). This study revealed causal relationships between specific immunocyte phenotypes and dermatitis subtypes, providing novel insights into the immunopathogenesis of dermatitis and potential therapeutic targets.