Causal Relationship Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Temporomandibular Disorders: A Bidirectional Mendelian Randomization Analysis

Abstract

Objective This study was conducted to investigate the bidirectional causal relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Methods Using an online pooled dataset of genome-wide association studies (GWAS), a two-sample bi-directional Mendelian randomization (MR) method was implemented. Inverse variance weighting was used as the primary analyses approach, and other methods of MR Egger, weighted median method, MR-Egger, Simple mode, and Weighted mode analysis were conducted as supplements to evaluate the causal relationship between OSA and TMD with odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Furthermore, the Cochran Q, MR-Egger, and MR-PRESSO approaches were used to perform the heterogeneity test and multiple validity. Results The general results of the forward MR analysis indicated that OSA had a significant causal influence on TMD (OR=1.241, 95% CI: 1.009–1.526, P=0.041), but no significant correlation was observed in the reverse MR analysis (IVW: OR=0.975, 95% CI=0.918–1.036, P=0.411). Conclusion In summary, our research demonstrated a hereditary causative relationship between OSA and TMD, indicating that appropriate intervention is required for both prevention and treatment of TMD.