ArticleNutrients2024
Micronutrients and Major Depression: A Mendelian Randomisation Study.
Article in Nutrients, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The biological relationship among depression, vitamins BFrontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Dietary characteristics associated with hemoglobin and anemia among prospective first-time voluntary blood donors in Accra, Ghana.BMC nutrition · 2026Article
- Sex-specific impact of vitamin D and B9 concentrations on neuroticism: a polygenic score-based study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Vitamin D, B9, and B12 Deficiencies as Key Drivers of Clinical Severity and Metabolic Comorbidities in Major Psychiatric Disorders.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundVarious vitamins and minerals have been implicated in the aetiology of depression.
objectiveTo estimate the effects of micronutrient exposures on major depressive disorder (MDD) and recurrent depression (rMDD) using Mendelian randomisation (MR), a method using genetic data to estimate causal effects given certain assumptions.
methodsWe undertook a comprehensive bidirectional MR study of multiple micronutrient exposures on MDD and rMDD. Summary statistics were obtained from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of MDD (cases = 116,209; controls = 314,566) and rMDD (cases = 17,451; controls = 62,482).
resultsNone of the micronutrients with available genetic instruments were strongly associated with MDD or rMDD using traditional MR methods. However, using methods to increase analytical power by accounting for genetically correlated variants (e.g., cIVW) highlighted five micronutrients with possible causal effects. Point estimates for rMDD were the largest magnitude, with three micronutrients suggestive of a protective effect: serum iron (OR
conclusionsOur results suggest weak evidence for a protective effect of iron, copper and 25(OH)D on major depressive outcomes, with mixed evidence for selenium and magnesium. There was no evidence to support a causal effect of any other micronutrients on MDD or rMDD, although genetic instruments were lacking, with insufficient power to detect small but important effects. Future micronutrient supplementation trials should ensure ample statistical power given modest causal effect estimates and consider potential risks of supplementation, as some micronutrient effect estimates suggested potential harm in excess.
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