Abstract
BACKGROUND: Previous observational studies have suggested a protective effect of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection against the incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma(EAC). To further validate this perspective at the genetic level, we employed Mendelian randomization (MR) to analyze the correlation between HP infection-related serological antibodies and EAC in the European population. METHODS: This study employed a two-sample MR analysis method, utilizing GWAS data on seven serological antibodies related to HP infection selected from European populations as instrumental variables. The outcome data comprised GWAS data from 16,790 cases of EAC. Three analytical techniques were employed: inverse variance weighting, Egger -MR, and weighted median method. Additionally, Cochran's Q test, Egger -MR intercept test, MR-Presso method, and leave-one-out analysis were utilized for sensitivity analyses. RESULTS: The results of analysis indicated no clear relationship between the seven serological antibodies related to HP infection and the incidence of EAC in European populations(all p > 0.05). The secondary outcomes further validated the previously mentioned results (p > 0.05), with analyses of heterogeneity (p > 0.05) and pleiotropy (p > 0.05) confirming the robustness of the MR results. CONCLUSION: No significant association was detected between various serological antibodies related to HP infection and the incidence of EAC in the European population. This may, to some extent, negated the protective role of HP infection against EAC.