Suggestive causal associations between 17 autoimmune diseases and pancreatitis: A two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Authors

Dehua Huang, Yun Li, Zhenyu Li, Chongfa Chen, Huijuan Wang, Hanxiao You, Jinfan Zhang, Shangnan Dai, Guangfu Wang, Chunhui Lu, Chenchen Li, Feihu Sun, Lingdi Yin, Yi Miao

Published in

Medicine. Volume 105. Issue 38. Pages e50766. Sep 18, 2026.

Abstract

The relationship between different autoimmune diseases (ADs) and pancreatitis has been reported in epidemiological studies. This study systematically investigated the causal effects of ADs factors on pancreatitis using Mendelian randomization (MR). We selected 17 common ADs as exposures from the largest genome-wide association study dataset in Europe. The outcome variables included acute pancreatitis (AP), chronic pancreatitis (CP), alcohol-induced acute pancreatitis, and alcohol-induced chronic pancreatitis. A variety of analytical methods were used to comprehensively evaluate the causal relationship between ADs and various types of pancreatitis, with sensitivity analyses, including Cochran's Q test and MR-Egger intercept test performed to verify the reliability of the results. Finally, a reverse MR analysis was performed to evaluate the possibility of reverse causation. Genetically predicted type 1 diabetes (OR = 1.032, 95% CI = 1.008-1.056, P = .0086) and ulcerative colitis (OR = 1.065, 95% CI = 1.012-1.121, P = .0151) were associated with an increased risk of AP. primary sclerosing cholangitis (OR = 1.080, 95% CI = 1.013-1.153, P = .0194) increased the risk of CP. Reverse MR analysis suggested a potential protective causal association between alcohol-induced acute pancreatitis and hashimoto's thyroiditis (OR = 0.962, 95% CI = 0.936-0.989, P = .0056), although this finding should be regarded as suggestive because it did not remain statistically significant after Bonferroni correction. Sensitivity analysis did not detect horizontal pleiotropy or heterogeneity. Genetic evidence supports a causal link between type 1 diabetes, ulcerative colitis , and AP, as well as between primary sclerosing cholangitis and CP. This analysis provides new insights into ADs as risk factors for pancreatitis, but further experimental research is needed to explore the potential causal relationships between these factors.

PMID:
42760723
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 19 Sep 2026.

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