ReviewMolecular psychiatry2022
Mendelian randomisation for psychiatry: how does it work, and what can it tell us?
Review in Molecular psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 4 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
43 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Cardiovascular diseases and depression: A meta-analysis and Mendelian randomization analysis.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Associations of cannabis use, tobacco use, and incident anxiety, mood, and psychotic disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychological medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Mendelian randomization study on the causal relationship between leukocyte telomere length and prostate cancer.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- Applications of Mendelian randomization in psychiatry: a comprehensive systematic review.Psychiatric genetics · 2022Pooled it
- Can We Finally Identify the Psychological Effect of Body Size? A Century From Kretschmer to Mendelian Randomization.Journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- NTPDase2 suppresses hippocampal astrocyte-supplied cholesterol through hydrolyzing eATP in depression.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- A flexible framework for robust and efficient Mendelian randomization with debiasing.Briefings in bioinformatics · 2026Article
- Maternal genetic liability for neuroticism and breastfeeding intention, initiation and maintenance.BJPsych open · 2026Article
- Integrative multi-omics reveals MHC class II-mediated neuroinflammation and systemic metabolic dysregulation as transdiagnostic drivers in major brain disorders.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Are There Causal Associations Between Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Cardiometabolic Phenotypes? A Genetic Correlation and Bi-Directional Mendelian Randomization Study.American journal of medical genetics. Part B, Neuropsychiatric genetics : the official publication of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics · 2026Article
- Evidence for overlapping genetic architecture between lifestyle factors and severe mental disorders with different patterns across diagnoses.EBioMedicine · 2026Article
- Causal inference in psychiatric research: how to critically evaluate and interpret mendelian randomization studies.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Associations of social isolation and loneliness with neurological disorders, psychiatric disorders, brain structures and behavioural phenotypes among UK Biobank participants.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Extending the Use of Mendelian Randomisation With Non-Inherited Variants to Assess Socially Transmitted Parental Exposures Under Assortative Mating.Genetic epidemiology · 2026Article
- A Comprehensive Mendelian Randomization Study of Bidirectional Causal Relationships Between Pain and Mental Disorders.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
- Genetic Evidence Supporting a Role for Brain Region Volume and Functional Network Alterations in Major Depression.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Disentangling the effects of nicotine versus non-nicotine constituents of tobacco smoke on major depressive disorder: A multivariable Mendelian randomisation study.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Prospective Investigation Unravels Plasma Proteomic Links to Dementia.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Article
- Leveraging pleiotropy for the improved treatment of psychiatric disorders.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Review
- Investigating the impact of poverty on mental illness in the UK Biobank using Mendelian randomization.Nature human behaviour · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The successful prevention of mental illness relies upon the identification of causal, modifiable risk factors. However, observational evidence exploring such risk factors often produces contradictory results and randomised control trials are often expensive, time-consuming or unethical to conduct. Mendelian randomisation (MR) is a complementary approach that uses naturally occurring genetic variation to identify possible causal effects between a risk factor and an outcome in a time-efficient and low-cost manner. MR utilises genetic variants as instrumental variables for the risk factor of interest. MR studies are becoming more frequent in the field of psychiatry, warranting a reflection upon both the possibilities and the pitfalls. In this Perspective, we consider several limitations of the MR method that are of particular relevance to psychiatry. We also present new MR methods that have exciting applications to questions of mental illness. While we believe that MR can make an important contribution to the field of psychiatry, we also wish to emphasise the importance of clear causal questions, thorough sensitivity analyses, and triangulation with other forms of evidence.
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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.