Low birthweight and risk of type 2 diabetes: a Mendelian randomisation study.

ABSTRACT:

Aims/hypothesis

Low birthweight has been associated with a high risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in observational studies. However, it remains unclear whether this relation is causal.

Methods

The present study included 3627 individuals with type 2 diabetes and 12,974 control participants of European ancestry from the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. A genetic risk score (GRS) was calculated based on five low-birthweight-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We assessed the evidence for causality first by examining the association of the GRS and the individual SNPs with type 2 diabetes, and second by performing a Mendelian randomisation analysis to estimate the potentially causal effect size of low birthweight on type 2 diabetes.

SUBMITTER: Wang T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4970938 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature