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. 2022 Mar 29:9:801591.
doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.801591. eCollection 2022.

Causal Association Between Tea Consumption and Kidney Function: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Yangchang Zhang  1   2   3   4 , Yang Xiong  5 , Shisi Shen  6 , Jialu Yang  1   2   3 , Wei Wang  1   2   3 , Tingting Wu  7 , Li Chen  8 , Qiuhua Yu  9 , Hangjia Zuo  6 , Xu Wang  1   2   3 , Xun Lei  1   2   3   4
Affiliations

Causal Association Between Tea Consumption and Kidney Function: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Yangchang Zhang et al. Front Nutr. .

Abstract

Background: Causal research concerning the consumption of tea and the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is limited. This study identified the potential causal effects of tea intake on CKD, the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and albuminuria.

Methods: Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) from UK Biobank were able to identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with an extra cup of tea each day. The summary statistics for the kidney function from the CKDGen consortium include 11,765 participants (12,385 cases of CKD) and 54,116 participants for the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio who were mostly of European descent. A two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was performed to test the relationship between the selected SNPs and the risk of CKD.

Results: A total of 2,672 SNPs associated with tea consumption (p < 5 × 10-8) were found, 45 of which were independent and usable in CKDGen. Drinking more cups of tea per day indicates a protective effect for CKD G3-G5 [odds ratio (OR) = 0.803; p = 0.004] and increases eGFR (β = 0.019 log ml/min/1.73 m2 per cup per day; p = 2.21 × 10-5). Excluding two SNPs responsible for directional heterogeneity (Cochran Q p = 0.02), a high consumption of tea was also negatively correlated with a lower risk of albuminuria (OR = 0.758; p = 0.002).

Conclusion: From the perspective of genes, causal relationships exist between daily extra cup of tea and the reduced risk of CKD and albuminuria and increased eGFR.

Keywords: Mendelian randomization; SNPs; albuminuria; chronic kidney disease (CKD); tea consumption.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Forest plots of Mendelian randomization (MR) study using genetically predicted tea consumption with chronic kidney disease (CKD), glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and albuminuria. Inverse-variance-weighted (IVW), MR-Egger, weighted median, simple, and weighted mode were used in this study. *Denotes the removal of two single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs; rs1030510 and rs4410790) that might give rise to significant heterogeneity (MR-Egger intercept p = 0.02).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Scatter plot of the effect size for each SNP on tea consumption and CKD G3–G5.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Scatter plot of the effect size for each SNP on tea consumption and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Scatter plot of the effect size for each SNP on tea consumption and albuminuria. (A) No SNP was excluded. (B) Two SNPs were removed (rs1030510 and rs4410790) due to potential horizontal pleiotropy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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