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Obesity

The causal role of obesity in diabetic kidney disease —evidence from a Mendelian randomization study

Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 11, page 632 (2015)Cite this article

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Whether obesity is a direct cause of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is unclear. Using a Mendelian randomization approach, Todd and colleagues assessed the association between BMI and DKD in 6,049 patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, before comparing these data with results from cross-sectional and longitudinal observations. In the cross-sectional analysis, no association was seen between BMI and overall DKD. However, in the Mendelian randomization analysis, every 1 kg/m2 increase in BMI was associated with an increased risk of developing DKD. Although supporting a causal role for obesity in the development of DKD, the investigators highlight that these data do not reveal the underlying mechanism of this association.

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References

  1. Todd, J. N. et al. Genetic evidence for a causal role of obesity in diabetic kidney disease. Diabetes 10.2337/db15-0254

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The causal role of obesity in diabetic kidney disease —evidence from a Mendelian randomization study. Nat Rev Endocrinol 11, 632 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2015.159

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