ArticleCommunications medicine2021
Extensive Mendelian randomization study identifies potential causal risk factors for severe COVID-19.
Article in Communications medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Genetic liability between COVID-19 and heart failure: evidence from a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2022Pooled it
- Distinct roles of chronotype, daytime napping, and sleep duration in biological and functional aging: a univariable and multivariable Mendelian randomization study.Clinical epigenetics · 2026Article
- Diabetes Mellitus, Energy Metabolism, and COVID-19.Endocrine reviews · 2024Review
- Causal relationship between psychological factors and hepatocellular carcinoma as revealed by Mendelian randomization.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2024Article
- The causal relationship between COVID-19 and estimated glomerular filtration rate: a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study.BMC nephrology · 2024Article
- Evaluating the effects of circulating inflammatory proteins as drivers and therapeutic targets for severe COVID-19.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- Exploring disease-causing traits for drug repurposing in critically ill COVID-19 patients: A causal inference approach.iScience · 2023Article
- Genetic examination of hematological parameters in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19.Blood cells, molecules & diseases · 2023Article
- Genetic Determinants of the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- The causal relationship between COVID-19 and increased intraocular pressure: A bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Review
- Circulating polyunsaturated fatty acids and COVID-19: a prospective cohort study and Mendelian randomization analysis.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2022Article
- Causal associations between body fat accumulation and COVID-19 severity: A Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Article
- Circulating Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and COVID-19: A Prospective Cohort Study and Mendelian Randomization Analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Article
- Leveraging the Electronic Health Record to Address the COVID-19 Pandemic.Mayo Clinic proceedings · 2021Review
- White Blood Cells and Severe COVID-19: A Mendelian Randomization Study.Journal of personalized medicine · 2021Article
- Extensive Mendelian randomization study identifies potential causal risk factors for severe COVID-19.Communications medicine · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Identifying causal risk factors for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is critical for its prevention and treatment. Many associated pre-existing conditions and biomarkers have been reported, but these observational associations suffer from confounding and reverse causation. Methods: Here, we perform a large-scale two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to evaluate the causal roles of many traits in severe COVID-19. Results: Our results highlight multiple body mass index (BMI)-related traits as risk-increasing: BMI (OR: 1.89, 95% CI: 1.51-2.37), hip circumference (OR: 1.46, 1.15-1.85), and waist circumference (OR: 1.82, 1.36-2.43). Our multivariable MR analysis further suggests that the BMI-related effect might be driven by fat mass (OR: 1.63, 1.03-2.58), but not fat-free mass (OR: 1.00, 0.61-1.66). Several white blood cell counts are negatively associated with severe COVID-19, including those of neutrophils (OR: 0.76, 0.61-0.94), granulocytes (OR: 0.75, 0.601-0.93), and myeloid white blood cells (OR: 0.77, 0.62-0.96). Furthermore, some circulating proteins are associated with an increased risk of (e.g., zinc-alpha-2-glycoprotein) or protection from severe COVID-19 (e.g., prostate-associated microseminoprotein). Conclusions: Our study suggests that fat mass and white blood cells might be involved in the development of severe COVID-19. It also prioritizes potential risk and protective factors that might serve as drug targets and guide the effective protection of high-risk individuals.
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.