Causal associations between environmental factors and risk of IgA nephropathy and membranous nephropathy: a bidirectional Mendelian randomization and mediation analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) and membranous nephropathy (MN) have intricate etiologies that are poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the impact of genetically predicted environmental factors on IgAN and MN.

Methods

We used bidirectional two-step Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis utilizing large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) data to investigate the relationships between 68 environmental exposures and IgAN and MN. The main method is inverse variance weighted (IVW). Sensitivity analyses were conducted to validate the causal estimates. Furthermore, the two-step MR was used to explore possible mediating effects.

Results

A total of 20 significant causal associations were identified. Genetically predicted educational attainment (EA), average hou

SUBMITTER: Li C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11983537 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature