biostudies-literatureUnknown19(Suppl 7)Conde S<h4>Background</h4>Recent advances in data analysis methods based on principles of Mendelian Randomisation, such as Egger regression and the weighted median estimator, add to the researcher's ability to infer cause-effect links from observational data. Now is the time to gauge the potential of these methods within specific areas of biomedical research. In this paper, we choose a study in metabolomics as an illustrative testbed. We apply Mendelian Randomisation methods in the analysis of data from the DILGOM (Dietary, Lifestyle and Genetic determinants of Obesity and Metabolic syndrome) study, in the context of an effort to identify molecular pathways of cardiovascular disease. In particular, our illustrative analysis addresses the question whether body mass, as measured by body mass index BMC bioinformatics195https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC6069804biostudies-literatureMendelian randomisation analysis of clustered causal effects of body mass on cardiometabolic biomarkers.PMC6069804Berzuini CGuo HBernardinelli LFazia TXu XConde SPerola MfalseMendelian randomisation analysis of clustered causal effects of body mass on cardiometabolic biomarkers.<h4>Background</h4>Recent advances in data analysis methods based on principles of Mendelian Randomisation, such as Egger regression and the weighted median estimator, add to the researcher's ability to infer cause-effect links from observational data. Now is the time to gauge the potential of these methods within specific areas of biomedical research. In this paper, we choose a study in metabolomics as an illustrative testbed. We apply Mendelian Randomisation methods in the analysis of data from the DILGOM (Dietary, Lifestyle and Genetic determinants of Obesity and Metabolic syndrome) study, in the context of an effort to identify molecular pathways of cardiovascular disease. In particular, our illustrative analysis addresses the question whether body mass, as measured by body mass index 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z2018 Jul2025-04-04T20:30:45.364Z2019-03-26T23:49:57ZS-EPMC60698043006663910.1186/s12859-018-2178-2