Dietary Factors and the Causal Relationship with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study

Abstract Objective This study aims to explore the causal relationship between dietary factors and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) using two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Methods Exposure and outcome variables were extracted from large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) summary data, employing the inverse variance-weighted (IVW) method as the primary MR analysis approach, supplemented by MR-Egger, weighted median, simple mode, and weighted mode methods. Heterogeneity and pleiotropy analyses were conducted, and the MR-PRESSO method was utilized to remove outliers and assess horizontal pleiotropy. Subsequently, MR analysis was repeated post-outlier removal to verify robustness. Results Genetic predictions indicated that lamb/mutton intake (IVW: OR = 3.576, 95% CI = 0.430–2.118, P = 0.003) and alcohol intake frequency (IVW: OR = 1.297, 95% CI = 0.047–0.473, P = 0.017) were positively associated with increased BPH risk, while fresh fruit intake (IVW: OR = 0.430, 95% CI = -1.561 to -0.127, P = 0.021) was inversely associated with BPH risk. Other dietary factors did not show statistically significant associations (P > 0.05). Conclusion MR results demonstrate that lamb, alcohol, and fresh fruit intake are causally associated with BPH, with no significant associations for other dietary factors.