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REVIEW article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutritional Epidemiology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1430280

Causal association between obesity and constipation: A two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization study and Meta-analysis

Provisionally accepted
Xian Sun Xian Sun 1Shuoqiu Zhang Shuoqiu Zhang 2Xi Zhou Xi Zhou 1*
  • 1 School of Integrative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
  • 2 Jiangsu provincial Hospital of Intergrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Based on observational studies, obesity is probably related to constipation, while existing results are conflicting. Therefore, Mendelian randomization (MR) study and meta-analysis were used for performing the causal correlation of obesity with constipation risk.Methods: Independent genetic variants closely related to constipation were acquired from genome-wide association study (GWAS) in this study to analyze the association of genetically-predisposed obesity with the constipation risk. Waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and body mass index (BMI) were collected from GWASs. Then, the causality of constipation with obesity was explored with two-sample MR study in both directions. The robustness of the results was evaluated by sensitivity analysis. Furthermore, systemic review and meta-analysis were performed to calculate relative risks (RRs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Subgroup analyses stratified by age and obesity degree were completed. To evaluate whether the current studies were affected by unmeasured confounders, E-values of different studies were determined.

    Keywords: Obesity, Constipation, Mendelian randomization, Meta-analysis, causal association

    Received: 22 May 2024; Accepted: 10 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Sun, Zhang and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Xi Zhou, School of Integrative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China

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