ArticleJournal of medical genetics2024
Iron and risk of dementia: Mendelian randomisation analysis in UK Biobank.
Article in Journal of medical genetics, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of risk factors for vascular dementia using Mendelian randomization: a call for methodologically robust studies to advance knowledge.BMC neurology · 2026Pooled it
- Ferritin and transferrin predict common carotid intima-media thickness in females: a machine-learning informed individual participant data meta-analysis.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2026Pooled it
- Modifiable and clinically actionable exposures for vascular dementia: a structured evidence synthesis of Mendelian randomization studies.Journal of neurology · 2026Review
- Loss of Hfe impairs hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell function.Blood. Red cells & iron · 2026Article
- UK Biobank at 20 - a growing, global resource for dementia research.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2026Review
- Genetic and lifestyle modifiers of haemochromatosis-related clinical outcomes in HFE C282Y homozygotes.JHEP reports : innovation in hepatology · 2026Article
- Anemia, iron deficiency, and blood biomarkers for Alzheimer disease: clinical interpretation and dementia risk stratification.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- FeInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Understanding the causes and consequences of low statin adherence: evidence from UK Biobank primary care data.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- Iron-Mediated Overexpression of Amyloid Precursor Protein via Iron Responsive mRNA in Alzheimer's Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- MRI-derived brain iron, grey matter volume, and risk of dementia and Parkinson's disease: Observational and genetic analysis in the UK Biobank cohort.Neurobiology of disease · 2024Observational
- Iron and risk of dementia: Mendelian randomisation analysis in UK Biobank.Journal of medical genetics · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBrain iron deposition is common in dementia, but whether serum iron is a causal risk factor is unknown. We aimed to determine whether genetic predisposition to higher serum iron status biomarkers increased risk of dementia and atrophy of grey matter.
methodsWe analysed UK Biobank participants clustered into European (N=451284), African (N=7477) and South Asian (N=9570) groups by genetic similarity to the 1000 genomes project. Using Mendelian randomisation methods, we estimated the association between genetically predicted serum iron (transferrin saturation [TSAT] and ferritin), grey matter volume and genetic liability to clinically defined dementia (including Alzheimer's disease [AD], non-AD dementia, and vascular dementia) from hospital and primary care records. We also performed time-to-event (competing risks) analysis of the TSAT polygenic score on risk of clinically defined non-AD dementia.
resultsIn Europeans, higher genetically predicted TSAT increased genetic liability to dementia (Odds Ratio [OR]: 1.15, 95% Confidence Intervals [CI] 1.04 to 1.26, p=0.0051), non-AD dementia (OR: 1.27, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.45, p=0.00018) and vascular dementia (OR: 1.37, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.69, p=0.0023), but not AD (OR: 1.00, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.15, p=0.97). Higher TSAT was also associated with increased risk of non-AD dementia in participants of African, but not South Asian groups. In survival analysis using a TSAT polygenic score, the effect was independent of apolipoprotein-E ε4 genotype (with adjustment subdistribution Hazard Ratio: 1.74, 95% CI 1.33 to 2.28, p=0.00006). Genetically predicted TSAT was associated with lower grey matter volume in caudate, putamen and thalamus, and not in other areas of interest. DISCUSSION: Genetic evidence supports a causal relationship between higher TSAT and risk of clinically defined non-AD and vascular dementia, in European and African groups. This association appears to be independent of apolipoprotein-E ε4.
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