Causal effects of pediatric asthma on psychiatric disorders: a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study

Previous studies have suggested a potential link between pediatric asthma and psychiatric disorders. However, the causal relationship between pediatric asthma and psychiatric disorders is unclear. Therefore, we used Mendelian randomization to explore causal relationships between pediatric asthma and depression, anxiety disorders, and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) meta-analyses with the largest possible sample size and independent individuals from European ancestry were selected. The genetic data for depression and anxiety are from FinnGen consortium, while the genetic data for ADHD is from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Inverse variance weighted (IVW) was the main analysis method. The heterogeneity of the instrumental variables (IVs) was assessed using IVW, and the horizontal pleiotropy of the IVs was assessed using MR-Egger. The IVW results showed a significant causal relationship between pediatric asthma and depression (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.02–1.15; <i>p</i> = 0.013). However, there is no evidence to suggest a causal relationship between pediatric asthma, anxiety, and ADHD. Reverse MR suggests a significant causal relationship (OR = 1.27, 95% CI [1.14–1.41], <i>p</i> = 9.64E − 06) between ADHD and pediatric asthma using the IVW method. Our findings suggest a causal relationship between pediatric asthma and an increased risk of depression. Additionally, we found that ADHD is significantly associated with a higher risk of pediatric asthma.