Exploring the Causal Links Between Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Risk of Brain Tumors: A Bidirectional Mendelian Randomization Analysis

作者：Pengqiang Shi, Gangao Wei, Zhenwei Li, Baoshun Du, Guodong Zhang, Jiaqi Zhang, Y Wang, Yunchao Chen, Zhang Cheng, Zhang Cheng, Zhenguo Cheng, Zhenguo Cheng · 发表于：Brain and Behavior · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1002/brb3.71239 · 被引用次数：1 · 研究领域：Toxoplasma gondii Research Studies、Inflammasome and immune disorders、Trypanosoma species research and implications

BACKGROUND: Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a ubiquitous protozoan parasite capable of establishing lifelong latent infections in the central nervous system. Previous epidemiological studies have suggested a potential association between T. gondii infection and an increased risk of brain cancer, but the causal relationship remains unclear. METHODS: We conducted a bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) study to assess the causal relationship between T. gondii infection and brain tumor risk. Genetic instruments for T. gondii seropositivity were derived from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in the UK Biobank, while genetic data for brain tumors were obtained from the FinnGen R12 dataset. Standard MR methods, including inverse-variance weighted (IVW), weighted median, and MR-Egger, were applied to infer causality, with generalized summary Mendelian randomization (GSMR) used for further validation. Sensitivity analyses, including heterogeneity and pleiotropy assessments, were performed to ensure robustness. Additionally, reverse MR analyses were conducted to evaluate whether brain tumors influence genetic liability to T. gondii seropositivity. RESULTS: Our MR analyses found no evidence of a causal relationship between genetic liability to T. gondii seropositivity, as indicated by P22 and SAG1 antibody levels, and the risk of brain tumors. Across all tumor subtypes, IVW, weighted median, MR-Egger, and GSMR analyses consistently yielded non-significant results. However, r...