Links between the genetic determinants of morning plasma cortisol and body shape: a two-sample Mendelian randomisation study.

ABSTRACT: High cortisol production in Cushing's syndrome leads to fat centralisation. The influence of modest cortisol variations on body shape, however, is less clear. We examined potentially causal associations between morning plasma cortisol and body shape and obesity with inverse-variance weighted random-effects models in a two-sample Mendelian randomisation analysis. We used publicly available summary statistics from the CORtisol NETwork (CORNET) consortium, UK Biobank, and the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) consortium. Only in women, morning plasma cortisol (proxied by ten genetic polymorphisms) was associated positively with waist size reflected in waist-to-hip index (WHI, 0.035 standard deviation (SD) units change per one SD cortisol increase; 95% confidence interval

SUBMITTER: Christakoudi S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10853188 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature