Inferring the direction of a causal link and estimating its effect via a Bayesian Mendelian randomization approach.

ABSTRACT: The use of genetic variants as instrumental variables - an approach known as Mendelian randomization - is a popular epidemiological method for estimating the causal effect of an exposure (phenotype, biomarker, risk factor) on a disease or health-related outcome from observational data. Instrumental variables must satisfy strong, often untestable assumptions, which means that finding good genetic instruments among a large list of potential candidates is challenging. This difficulty is compounded by the fact that many genetic variants influence more than one phenotype through different causal pathways, a phenomenon called horizontal pleiotropy. This leads to errors not only in estimating the magnitude of the causal effect but also in inferring the direction of the putative causal link. In th

SUBMITTER: Bucur IG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7221461 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature