Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37525197›Full record

ArticleLipids in health and disease2023

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma: a Mendelian randomization and mediation analysis.

Jiali Cao, Ziwen Wang, Mengpei Zhu, Yumei Huang, Ze Jin, Zhifan Xiong

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Lipids in health and disease, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
6.2field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.

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  14. Mediating role of blood metabolites in the relationship between immune cell traits and sepsis: a Mendelian randomization and mediation analysis.Inflammation research : official journal of the European Histamine Research Society ... [et al.] · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Jiali CaoDepartment of Gastroenterology, Liyuan Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430077, China.
Ziwen WangDepartment of Gastroenterology, Liyuan Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430077, China.
Mengpei ZhuDepartment of Gastroenterology, Liyuan Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430077, China.
Yumei HuangDepartment of Gastroenterology, Liyuan Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430077, China.
Ze JinDepartment of Gastroenterology, Liyuan Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430077, China.
Zhifan XiongDepartment of Gastroenterology, Liyuan Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430077, China. 1992ly0503@hust.edu.cn.
Huazhong University of Science and Technology · CN

Funding

Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities under Grant YCJJ202201051National Key Research and Development Program of China 2018YFC2002000
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundA previous study demonstrated that low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, the causality between them has not been proven due to conflicting research results and the interference of confounders. This study utilized Mendelian randomization (MR) to investigate the causal relationship between LDL-C and HCC and identify the mediating factors.

methodsLDL-C, HCC, and coronary artery disease (CAD) genome-wide association study (GWAS) data were obtained from a public database. To investigate causality, inverse variance weighting (IVW) was the main analysis approach. MR‒Egger, simple mode, weighted median (WM), and weighted mode were employed as supplementary analytic methods. In addition, horizontal pleiotropy and heterogeneity were tested. To evaluate the stability of the MR results, a "leave-one-out" approach was used. Multivariate MR (MVMR) was utilized to correct the confounders that might affect causality, and mediation analysis was used to investigate the potential mediating effects. Finally, we used HCC risk to infer the reverse causality with LDL-C level.

resultsRandom effects IVW results were (LDL-C-HCC: odds ratio (OR) = 0.703, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [0.508, 0.973], P = 0.034; CAD-HCC: OR = 0.722, 95% CI = [0.645, 0.808], P = 1.50 × 10

conclusionThis MR study confirmed the causal effect between LDL-C levels and HCC risk, with CAD playing a mediating role. It may provide a new view on HCC occurrence and development mechanisms, as well as new metabolic intervention targets for treatment.

Indexed as

Carcinoma, HepatocellularCoronary Artery DiseaseLiver NeoplasmsCholesterol, HDLCholesterol, LDLGenome-Wide Association StudyHumansMediation AnalysisMendelian Randomization AnalysisPolymorphism, Single NucleotideRisk FactorsTriglyceridesCholesterol, HDLCholesterol, LDLTriglyceridesCoronary artery diseaseHepatocellular carcinomaLow-density lipoprotein cholesterolMendelian randomization

Identifiers

PMID37525197
PMCPMC10388495
OpenAlexW4385422413

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.