ArticleNature genetics2018
Distinguishing genetic correlation from causation across 52 diseases and complex traits.
Article in Nature genetics, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 251 papers, 25 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
251 citing papers in PubMed, 25 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 432 citations in OpenAlex.
- A genome- and phenome-wide association study of plasma procalcitonin concentrations in individuals of European ancestry.EBioMedicine · 2026Pooled it
- GWAS meta-analysis of psoriasis identifies new susceptibility alleles impacting disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets.Nature communications · 2025Pooled it
- The genetic architecture of age at menarche and its causal effects on other traits.Journal of human genetics · 2024Pooled it
- Genetic overlap and causality between COVID-19 and multi-site chronic pain: the importance of immunity.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of inflammatory cytokines and plasma metabolome on OSA: a bidirectional two- sample Mendelian randomization study and mediation analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Pooled it
- Causality of genetically determined blood metabolites on irritable bowel syndrome: A Mendelian randomization study.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Identifying serum metabolite biomarkers for autoimmune diseases: a two-sample mendelian randomization and meta-analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Pooled it
- Investigating the shared genetic architecture between COVID-19 and obesity: a large-scale genome wide cross-trait analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Pooled it
- Cluster Headache Genomewide Association Study and Meta-Analysis Identifies Eight Loci and Implicates Smoking as Causal Risk Factor.Annals of neurology · 2023Pooled it
- Cross-trait analyses identify shared genetics between migraine, headache, and glycemic traits, and a causal relationship with fasting proinsulin.Human genetics · 2023Pooled it
- Genetically predicted 486 blood metabolites in relation to risk of colorectal cancer: A Mendelian randomization study.Cancer medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Genetic effects on the timing of parturition and links to fetal birth weight.Nature genetics · 2023Pooled it
- Discovery of genomic loci associated with sleep apnea risk through multi-trait GWAS analysis with snoring.Sleep · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Genetic Overlap Analysis Identifies a Shared Etiology between Migraine and Headache with Type 2 Diabetes.Genes · 2022Pooled it
- Understanding the comorbidity between posttraumatic stress severity and coronary artery disease using genome-wide information and electronic health records.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Assessing the causal association between human blood metabolites and the risk of epilepsy.Journal of translational medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Pairwise genetic meta-analyses between schizophrenia and substance dependence phenotypes reveals novel association signals with pharmacological significance.Translational psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Using multivariable Mendelian randomization to estimate the causal effect of bone mineral density on osteoarthritis risk, independently of body mass index.International journal of epidemiology · 2022Pooled it
- A large-scale genome-wide cross-trait analysis reveals shared genetic architecture between Alzheimer's disease and gastrointestinal tract disorders.Communications biology · 2022Pooled it
191 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Mendelian randomization, a method to infer causal relationships, is confounded by genetic correlations reflecting shared etiology. We developed a model in which a latent causal variable mediates the genetic correlation; trait 1 is partially genetically causal for trait 2 if it is strongly genetically correlated with the latent causal variable, quantified using the genetic causality proportion. We fit this model using mixed fourth moments [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] of marginal effect sizes for each trait; if trait 1 is causal for trait 2, then SNPs affecting trait 1 (large [Formula: see text]) will have correlated effects on trait 2 (large α
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.