ArticleScientific reports2023
Application of Mendelian randomization to explore the causal role of the human gut microbiome in colorectal cancer.
Article in Scientific reports, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Methodological considerations in Mendelian randomization analyses of oral microbiota and cardiovascular disease.Journal of geriatric cardiology : JGC · 2026Article
- Article
- Orchestrating the gut microbiota-mitochondrial-immune axis in gynecological diseases: mechanisms and dual-targeting therapeutic strategies.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2026Review
- Oral and Gut Health, (Neuro) Inflammation, and Central Sensitization in Chronic Pain: A Narrative Review of Mechanisms, Treatment Opportunities, and Research Agenda.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Potential Impact of Microbial Dysbiosis and Tryptophan Metabolites in Advanced Stages of Colorectal Cancer.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Assessing the role of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae in colorectal cancer oncogene expression: insights from microbial colonization phenotypes.Molecular biology reports · 2025Article
- Exploring the causal role of the human gut microbiome in endometrial cancer: a Mendelian randomization approach.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Standardization of gut microbiome analysis in sports.Cell reports. Medicine · 2024Review
- Addressing the credibility crisis in Mendelian randomization.BMC medicine · 2024Review
- Gut microbial subtypes and clinicopathological value for colorectal cancer.Cancer medicine · 2024Article
- Mendelian randomisation analysis for intestinal disease: achievement and future.eGastroenterology · 2024Review
- Causality of the gut microbiome and atherosclerosis-related lipids: a bidirectional Mendelian Randomization study.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2024Article
- Article
- Microbiome and its implications in oncogenesis: a Mendelian randomization perspective.American journal of cancer research · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
27 authors at 15 institutions in 7 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The role of the human gut microbiome in colorectal cancer (CRC) is unclear as most studies on the topic are unable to discern correlation from causation. We apply two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to estimate the causal relationship between the gut microbiome and CRC. We used summary-level data from independent genome-wide association studies to estimate the causal effect of 14 microbial traits (n = 3890 individuals) on overall CRC (55,168 cases, 65,160 controls) and site-specific CRC risk, conducting several sensitivity analyses to understand the nature of results. Initial MR analysis suggested that a higher abundance of Bifidobacterium and presence of an unclassified group of bacteria within the Bacteroidales order in the gut increased overall and site-specific CRC risk. However, sensitivity analyses suggested that instruments used to estimate relationships were likely complex and involved in many potential horizontal pleiotropic pathways, demonstrating that caution is needed when interpreting MR analyses with gut microbiome exposures. In assessing reverse causality, we did not find strong evidence that CRC causally affected these microbial traits. Whilst our study initially identified potential causal roles for two microbial traits in CRC, importantly, further exploration of these relationships highlighted that these were unlikely to reflect causality.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.