Skin microbiota, immune phenotypes, inflammatory response and hypertrophic scars: A Mendelian randomization study.

Abstract

There is emerging evidence of a link between skin microbiota and Hypertrophic scars (HS), but the specific causal relationships and the role of immune responses are unclear. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) and Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis were used to explore the causal effects of skin microbiota, cytokines, and immune phenotypes on HS, with inverse variance weighting (IVW) as the main statistical method. Mediation analyses were also conducted to see if cytokines and immune phenotypes mediate the relationship between skin microbiota and HS. There were 4 positive and 4 negative causal effects between skin microbiota and HS. Five cytokines and 34 immune phenotypes were identified as having causal effects on HS. Additionally, 1 inflammatory factor and 5 immune phenotypes were significant mediators in 4 skin microbiota, while no significant mediators were found in the others. The skin microbiome, immune phenotypes, and inflammatory response are causally linked to HS, with some acting as key mediators from skin microbiota to scars.