Causal Associations Between Sex Hormones and Keratoconus via Mendelian Randomization

A Mendelian randomization study by Wei Zhao, published in 2026, evaluates potential causal links between sex hormones and keratoconus. It uses large-scale GWAS summary data and multiple statistical methods, including inverse-variance weighted and MR-Egger regression. The findings provide preliminary genetic evidence, suggesting testosterone-related pathways may influence keratoconus development, particularly in males.

Use Cases

• Validate causal hypotheses between hormone levels and keratoconus risk based on the described Mendelian randomization framework
• Benchmark sensitivity analysis methods (e.g., MR-PRESSO, leave-one-out) using the described outlier detection and FDR correction procedures
• Investigate sex-specific genetic associations in corneal disorders based on the reported male-specific findings for testosterone

Strengths

• The analysis employs multiple Mendelian randomization methods (IVW, weighted median, MR-Egger) and sensitivity tests for robustness
• Results include specific odds ratios and confidence intervals (e.g., OR = 0.78 for total testosterone in males)
• Data is shared under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• The authors note several findings are nominal and should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Analysis of large-scale GWAS summary data using two-sample Mendelian randomization

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-25 05:36:53