Prediction of causal genes at GWAS loci with pleiotropic gene regulatory effects using sets of correlated instrumental variables.

ABSTRACT: Multivariate Mendelian randomization (MVMR) is a statistical technique that uses sets of genetic instruments to estimate the direct causal effects of multiple exposures on an outcome of interest. At genomic loci with pleiotropic gene regulatory effects, that is, loci where the same genetic variants are associated to multiple nearby genes, MVMR can potentially be used to predict candidate causal genes. However, consensus in the field dictates that the genetic instruments in MVMR must be independent (not in linkage disequilibrium, which is usually not possible when considering a group of candidate genes from the same locus. Here we used causal inference theory to show that MVMR with correlated instruments satisfies the instrumental set condition. This is a classical result by Brito and Pearl

SUBMITTER: Khan M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10802687 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature