Role of circulating inflammatory protein in the development of diabetic renal complications: proteome-wide Mendelian randomization and colocalization analyses

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2024 Jul 8:15:1406442. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1406442. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Background: Diabetes ranks among the most widespread diseases globally, with the kidneys being particularly susceptible to its vascular complications. The identification of proteins for pathogenesis and novel drug targets remains imperative. This study aims to investigate roles of circulating inflammatory proteins in diabetic renal complications.

Methods: Data on the proteins were derived from a genome-wide protein quantitative trait locus (pQTL) study, while data on diabetic renal complications came from the FinnGen study. In this study, proteome-wide Mendelian randomization (MR) and colocalization analyses were used to assess the relationship between circulating inflammatory proteins and diabetic renal complications.

Results: MR approach indicated that elevated levels of interleukin 12B (IL-12B) (OR 1.691, 95%CI 1.179-2.427, P=4.34×10-3) and LIF interleukin 6 family cytokine (LIF) (OR 1.349, 95%CI 1.010-1.801, P=4.23×10-2) increased the risk of type 1 diabetes (T1D) with renal complications, while higher levels of fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) (OR 1.202, 95%CI 1.009-1.432, P=3.93×10-2), fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) (OR 1.379, 95%CI 1.035-1.837, P=2.82×10-2), C-C motif chemokine ligand 7 (CCL7) (OR 1.385, 95%CI 1.111-1.725, P=3.76×10-3), and TNF superfamily member 14 (TNFSF14) (OR 1.244, 95%CI 1.066-1.451, P=5.63×10-3) indicated potential risk factors for type 2 diabetes (T2D) with renal complications. Colocalization analysis supported these findings, revealing that most identified proteins, except for DNER, likely share causal variants with diabetic renal complications.

Conclusion: Our study established associations between specific circulating inflammatory proteins and the risk of diabetic renal complications, suggesting these proteins as targets for further investigation into the pathogenesis and potential therapeutic interventions for T1D and T2D with renal complications.

Keywords: Mendelian randomization; causality; circulating inflammatory proteins; colocalization; diabetic with renal complications; risk.

MeSH terms

  • Biomarkers / blood
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / blood
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / complications
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / genetics
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / metabolism
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / blood
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / complications
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / genetics
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / metabolism
  • Diabetic Nephropathies* / blood
  • Diabetic Nephropathies* / etiology
  • Diabetic Nephropathies* / genetics
  • Diabetic Nephropathies* / metabolism
  • Female
  • Fibroblast Growth Factors / blood
  • Fibroblast Growth Factors / genetics
  • Genome-Wide Association Study
  • Humans
  • Inflammation / blood
  • Inflammation / metabolism
  • Male
  • Mendelian Randomization Analysis*
  • Middle Aged
  • Proteome* / analysis
  • Proteome* / metabolism
  • Quantitative Trait Loci

Substances

  • Proteome
  • Fibroblast Growth Factors
  • Biomarkers

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This project was supported in part by grants from the State Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine (SZ2021ZZ16), Guangzhou City-school-enterprise joint funding project (SL2023A03J00958), Guangzhou Science and Technology Project (Grant numbers 202206010076).