Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38509541›Full record

ArticleBMC pulmonary medicine2024

The role of Neutrophil counts, infections and Smoking in mediating the Effect of Bronchiectasis on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: a mendelian randomization study.

Lei Gu, Wei Liu, Jian-An Huang, Lujian Zhu, Xiaowen Hu, Jian Yue, Jing Lin

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC pulmonary medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 21% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Refractory phenotype ofThe journal of allergy and clinical immunology. Global · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.

Lei Gu *Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006, China.
Wei Liu *Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The 900th Hospital of Joint Logistic Support Force, People's Liberation Army, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350025, China.
Jian-An HuangDepartment of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006, China.
Lujian ZhuDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Affiliated Jinhua Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Jinhua, 321000, China.
Xiaowen HuDepartment of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230001, China.
Jian YueThe People's Hospital of Gaozhou, Gaozhou, 525200, China. tamoxifen@126.com.
Jing LinDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou,Jiangsu Province, 215006, China. linjing137999@163.com.
Soochow University · CNFujian Medical University · CNGaozhou People's Hospital · CNSuzhou Research Institute · CNUniversity of Science and Technology of China · CNZhejiang University · CN

Funding

Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province 2020J011129Suzhou "Science and Education Revitalize Health" Youth Science and Technology Project KJXW2023007
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe causality of the relationship between bronchiectasis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the potential causal relationship between them, with a specific focus on the role of airway inflammation, infections, smoking as the mediators in the development of COPD.

methodsWe conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to assess: (1) the causal impact of bronchiectasis on COPD, sex, smoking status, infections, eosinophil and neutrophil counts, as well as the causal impact of COPD on bronchiectasis; (2) the causal effect of smoking status, infections and neutrophil counts on COPD; and (3) the extent to which the smoking status, infections and neutrophil counts might mediate any influence of bronchiectasis on the development of COPD.

resultsCOPD was associated with a higher risk of bronchiectasis (OR 1.28 [95% CI 1.05, 1.56]). Bronchiectasis was associated with a higher risk of COPD (OR 1.08 [95% CI 1.04, 1.13]), higher levels of neutrophil (OR 1.01 [95% CI 1.00, 1.01]), higher risk of respiratory infections (OR 1.04 [95% CI 1.02, 1.06]) and lower risk of smoking. The causal associations of higher neutrophil cells, respiratory infections and smoking with higher COPD risk remained after performing sensitivity analyses that considered different models of horizontal pleiotropy, with OR 1.17, 1.69 and 95.13, respectively. The bronchiectasis-COPD effect was 0.99, 0.85 and 122.79 with genetic adjustment for neutrophils, respiratory infections and smoking.

conclusionCOPD and bronchiectasis are mutually causal. And increased neutrophil cell count and respiratory infections appears to mediate much of the effect of bronchiectasis on COPD.

Indexed as

BronchiectasisPulmonary Disease, Chronic ObstructiveRespiratory Tract InfectionsGenome-Wide Association StudyHumansMendelian Randomization AnalysisNeutrophilsSmokingBronchiectasisChronic obstructive Pulmonary DiseaseMendelian randomizationNeutrophilRespiratory infectionsSmoking

Identifiers

PMID38509541
PMCPMC10953251
OpenAlexW4393006315

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.