Mendelian randomization analysis reveals the impact of physical and occupational activities on the risk of gastroesophageal reflux disease and Barrett’s esophagus

Abstract

Background

Recent studies have indicated that participating in physical activity may provide a safeguard against gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Nevertheless, the precise links between physical and occupational activity and the occurrence of GERD and Barrett’s esophagus (BE) are still uncertain.

Methods

Conducting univariate and multivariate Mendelian randomization investigations to examine the causal relationship between exposures and outcomes. Genetic variation simulation was used in randomized experiments. Data on physical and occupational activity were obtained from the UK Biobank and GWAS catalog. In the meantime, data on GERD and BE were extracted from a high quality meta-analysis.

Results

The results of univariate Mendelian randomization analysis using multiple methods suggest a causal relationship between strenuous sports or other forms of exercise (as a protective factor) and GERD/BE. At the same time, three types of occupational related physical activities, including heavy manual or physical work, shift work and walking or standing work, are risk factors for GERD/BE and have a causal relationship with them. These results were reconfirmed through multivariate Mendelian randomization analysis, which excluding the influence of other potential confounding factors.

Conclusions

The findings indicated that strenuous sports or other forms of exercise could lower the likelihood of GERD/BE, while excessive physical strain in the workplace, prolonged periods of standing or walking, and shift work could raise the risk of GERD/BE. Acknowledging this risk and implementing suitable measures can contribute to the prevention of GERD and BE, thus mitigating the associated health burden.

Keywords:

• Gastroesophageal reflux disease
• Barrett’s esophagus
• physical activity
• occupational activity
• Mendelian randomization
• GWAS

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all cited GWAS for sharing data for the analysis.

Author contributions

LW and H-ZZ designed this study and drafted the manuscript. LW and H-ZZ collected and analyzed the data. LW and D-WL revised the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Institutional review board Statement

Obtained summarized data from publicly available GWAS. Since this study did not involve any personal data, there was no need for separate ethical approval.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability Statement

The corresponding authors will provide all the data analyzed in this study upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, 81470898.