ReviewEuropean journal of epidemiology2020
Genetic instrumental variable analysis: time to call mendelian randomization what it is. The example of alcohol and cardiovascular disease.
Review in European journal of epidemiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A burden of proof study on alcohol consumption and ischemic heart disease.Nature communications · 2024Pooled it
- Alcohol consumption in relation to cardiovascular diseases and mortality: a systematic review of Mendelian randomization studies.European journal of epidemiology · 2022Pooled it
- Are there non-linear relationships between alcohol consumption and long-term health?: a systematic review of observational studies employing approaches to improve causal inference.BMC medical research methodology · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- A large randomized trial assessing alcohol cessation versus moderation on clinical events: UNATI.European journal of epidemiology · 2026Trial
- Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation on 24-Hour Blood Pressure in Patients with Low 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Nutrients · 2022Trial
- Systematic Multi-Level Analyses Decode the Arthritis-Neurodegeneration Axis With In Vivo Validation.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Causal relationship between cardiac arrhythmias and sepsis: a two-sample bidirectional mendelian randomization study.Journal of cardiothoracic surgery · 2026Article
- Exploring key genes in NAFLD linked to glutamine metabolism: A comprehensive analysis combining multi-omics, machine learning and SHAP.Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Article
- Health effects associated with alcohol consumption: a Burden of Proof study.Nature health · 2026Article
- A Comprehensive Mendelian Randomization Study of Bidirectional Causal Relationships Between Pain and Mental Disorders.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
- Deriving Mendelian Randomization-Based Causal Networks of Brain Imaging Phenotypes and Bipolar Disorder.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2026Article
- CD5 mediates the link between CD4+ CD39+ activated Treg cells and gastric cancer: A Mendelian randomization study.Medicine · 2025Article
- The Role of the Mediterranean Diet and Alcohol Consumption in Chronic Liver Disease Prevention: A Narrative Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Review
- Causal relationship between bulimia nervosa and microstructural white matter: evidence from Mendelian randomization.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2025Article
- Genetic insights into the shared molecular mechanisms of Crohn's disease and breast cancer: a Mendelian randomization and deep learning approach.Discover oncology · 2025Article
- Smoking may be a risk factor for carpal tunnel syndrome: Insights from Mendelian randomization analysis.Tobacco induced diseases · 2025Article
- Unraveling Genetic Causality Between Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Hemiplegia Based on Mendelian Randomization.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025Article
- Identification of sepsis biomarkers through glutamine metabolism-mediated immune regulation: a comprehensive analysis employing mendelian randomization, multi-omics integration, and machine learning.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Random Forest Analysis of Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditures Associated with Cardiometabolic Diseases, Lifestyle, Lipid Profile, and Genetic Information in São Paulo, Brazil.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In recent years, epidemiologists have increasingly sought to employ genetic data to identify 'causal' relationships between exposures of interest and various endpoints - an instrumental variable approach sometimes termed Mendelian randomization. However, this approach is subject to all of the limitations of instrumental variable analysis and to several limitations specific to its genetic underpinnings, including confounding, weak instrument bias, pleiotropy, adaptation, and failure of replication. Although the approach enjoys some utility in testing the etiological role of discrete biochemical pathways, like folate metabolism, examples like that of alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease demonstrate that it must be treated with all of the circumspection that should accompany all forms of observational epidemiology. Going forward, we urge the elimination of randomization or causality in reports of its use and suggest that Mendelian randomization instead be termed exactly what it is - genetic instrumental variable analysis.
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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.