The causal relationship between air pollution, obesity, and COVID-19 risk: a large-scale genetic correlation study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Observational evidence reported that air pollution is a significant risk element for numerous health problems, such as obesity and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but their causal relationship is currently unknown. Our objective was to probe the causal relationship between air pollution, obesity, and COVID-19 and to explore whether obesity mediates this association.

Methods

We obtained instrumental variables strongly correlated to air pollutants [PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NOx)], 9 obesity-related traits (abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue volume, waist-to-hip ratio, body mass index, hip circumference, waist circumference, obesity class 1-3, visceral adipose tissue volume), and COVID-19 phenotypes (susceptibility, hospital

SUBMITTER: Zhang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10585274 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature