Observational studyDiabetes, obesity & metabolism2026
Higher Body Mass Index Is a Causal Risk Factor for Skin Infections: A Mendelian Randomisation Study Using UK Biobank and FinnGen.
Observational study in Diabetes, obesity & metabolism, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Superficial Fungal Infection Associations with Comorbid Diseases and Risk Factors: An Analysis of Global Burden of Disease 2023.Infectious disease reports · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
aimsInfections remain a leading cause of mortality and morbidity globally. We aimed to evaluate the potential causal role of higher BMI on common bacterial, viral and fungal infections using Mendelian randomisation (MR). MATERIAL AND
methodsIn UK Biobank (N = 502 131, N = 230 542 with linked GP records), we tested observational associations and used one-sample MR to test for a causal effect of BMI on common infections (skin infections, respiratory infections and urogenital infections) in primary care and hospital admissions. We additionally performed two-sample MR using summary statistics from a BMI genome-wide association study and infection outcomes from FinnGen (N = 500 348).
resultsHigher BMI was observationally associated with all infection types. One-sample MR demonstrated that higher BMI has a causal effect on skin infections in primary care (bacterial: Odds Ratio [OR] 1.37 [95% CI:1.24-1.53] per 5 kg/m2 increase in BMI, p < 0.001, fungal: 1.34 [95% CI:1.18-1.53], p < 0.001) and hospitalisation with skin infections (bacterial: OR 1.93 [95% CI:1.71-2.19] per 5 kg/m
conclusionsMendelian randomisation provides strong evidence that higher BMI is a causal risk factor for bacterial and fungal skin infections. Weight loss interventions may help reduce the risk of both mild and severe bacterial and fungal skin infections and be targeted to those at highest risk.
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Registered trials
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