Dr. Georgiou, a Marie Curie fellow at the Zanos lab, has published a novel study entitled “Investigating the shared genetic basis and causal relationships between mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue inflammation and psychiatric disorders”. The study employed a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis using genetic data from over 342,000 FinnGen participants to investigate potential causal relationships between inflammation of the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue, proxied by conditions like tonsillectomy, appendectomy and appendicitis, and psychiatric disorders such as major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and anxiety disorders. Surprisingly, their results suggest no direct causal link between these mucosal inflammation proxies and increased risk for psychiatric disorders, despite previous observational evidence linking the two. However, an intriguing moderate inverse genetic correlation was observed between tonsillectomy and major depression, highlighting the need for further research into mediating factors.

For more information, please visit: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1379922