AUTHOR=Kuribanjiang Kaidiriyan , Min Yiping , Yan Shikang , Chen Simin , Aiheti Nuerbiyamu , Wupuer Abudunaibi , Wang Jie , Peng Xing , Li Yihan , Li Huilong , Dong Yiran , Fan Yuanlin , Yang Lei , Zhao Jianping 

TITLE=A Mendelian randomization study to examine the causal associations of circulating micronutrient levels with frailty risk

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2024.1386646

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2024.1386646

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Background</title><p>Observational studies have shown that micronutrients can affect the occurrence of frailty. However, it is not clear whether there is a causal relationship between the two. This study aimed to explore the causal relationship between circulating micronutrient levels and frailty risk using a two-sample Mendelian randomization (TSMR) approach.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Methods</title><p>We gathered and screened instrumental variables (IVs) for six circulating micronutrients, including vitamin B<sub>12</sub>, vitamin B<sub>6</sub>, folate, vitamin C, vitamin D, and vitamin E, from published genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and the IEU OpenGWAS open database. Summary statistics for frailty were obtained from a GWAS meta-analysis, including the UK Biobank and TwinGene (<italic>N</italic> = 175,226). We performed two independent TSMR analyses and a meta-analysis based on the two independent MR estimates to assess the causal relationship between circulating micronutrientn and frailty.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>Our study found, no causal relationship between genetically predicted vitamin D (<italic>β</italic> = −0.059, <italic>p =</italic> 0.35), vitamin B<sub>6</sub> (<italic>β</italic> = 0.006, <italic>p =</italic> 0.80), vitamin E (<italic>β</italic> = −0.011, <italic>p =</italic> 0.79), vitamin C (<italic>β</italic> = −0.044, <italic>p =</italic> 0.06), vitamin B<sub>12</sub> (<italic>β</italic> = −0.027, <italic>p =</italic> 0.37), and folate (<italic>β</italic> = 0.029, <italic>p =</italic> 0.17), with frailty.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>This study showed that these six micronutrients did not reduce the risk of developing frailty. However, we think it is necessary further to investigate the relationship and mechanisms between micronutrients and frailty using methods such as randomized controlled trials.</p></sec>