The Causal Impact of the Gut Microbiota on Respiratory Tuberculosis Susceptibility

Introduction Recent cross-sectional research has demonstrated a substantial link between tuberculosis (TB) and gut microbiota. Nevertheless, the causal impact of the gut microbiota on TB susceptibility in humans remains unknown. Methods The Mendelian randomization (MR) method was utilized for investigating the causality between them. The main method used for MR analysis was the inverse variance weighted (IVW) test, with the MR-Egger, weighted median, weighted mode, and simple median methods serving as supplements. And several sensitivity tests were carried out to validate the MR findings. Results The IVW outcomes suggested that three bacterial traits exhibited associations with susceptibility to respiratory TB after Bonferroni correction, namely Lachnospiraceae UCG010 (odds ratio [OR] 1.73, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17–2.55, P = 0.005), Eubacterium (brachy group) (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.07–1.65, P = 0.009), and Ruminococcaceae UCG005 (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.52–0.98, P = 0.034). Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that horizontal pleiotropy and heterogeneity were absent, thereby guaranteeing the reliability of the results. Conclusion This research sheds light on the causal impact of gut microbiota on respiratory tuberculosis susceptibility, improving our knowledge of therapeutic strategies for managing TB.