{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,13]],"date-time":"2026-04-13T22:57:58Z","timestamp":1776121078060,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,25]],"date-time":"2026-03-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1774396800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/pages\/standard-publication-reuse-rights"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Gut microbiota have been increasingly implicated in osteoarthritis (OA), but causal pathways remain unclear. Using the Gut-Immune-Joint Axis framework, we analyzed publicly available genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics from one primary and 2 secondary datasets to evaluate genetically predicted associations between gut microbiota and OA and to test immune cells as potential mediators. Bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) identified 5 bacterial genera genetically associated with OA in the primary dataset, with no evidence of reverse causality. Two-step MR highlighted Bilophila and the immune cell subtype CD45 on CD33dim HLA DR + CD11b- as being associated with OA (P &amp;lt; 0.05), and multivariable MR suggested partial mediation by this immune cell (20.0%, P = 0.003). In secondary analyses, 2 genera were associated with knee OA (KOA) and 5 with hip OA (HOA), again without reverse genetic effects. Terrisporobacter, the HLA DR + CD4 + to T-cell ratio, and the HLA DR + CD4 + to lymphocyte ratio were associated with KOA (all P &amp;lt; 0.05), with mediation by the HLA DR + CD4 + to T-cell ratio (\u221212.0%, P = 0.001). Roseburia and Myeloid DC AC were associated with HOA (all P &amp;lt; 0.05). Collectively, these findings support causal links between specific gut microbial genera and OA and implicate immune-cell traits as mediators, strengthening the gut-immune-joint axis concept and highlighting potential therapeutic targets.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/jleuko\/qiag042","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,19]],"date-time":"2026-03-19T12:46:15Z","timestamp":1773924375000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Uncovering the gut-immune-joint axis: causal links between gut Microbiota, immune cells, and osteoarthritis"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"118","author":[{"given":"Yuxi","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Spine Surgery, Mianyang Central Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Mianyang City 621000, Sichuan Province 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