Table 5 Three directions of the relation with exposure to mediator, mediator to outcome and exposure to outcome.

From: Mendelian randomization implies no direct causal association between leukocyte telomere length and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Pop

Exposure

Mediator

a

SE (a)

p

Mediator

Outcome

b

SE (b)

p

Exposure

Outcome

c

SE (c)

p

EUR

LTL

HDL

0.082

0.029

0.005

HDL

ALS

0.013

0.039

0.743

LTL

ALS

0.097

0.089

0.274

LTL

LDL

− 0.060

0.031

0.057

LDL

ALS

− 0.110

0.031

3.41E−04

LTL

ALS

0.097

0.089

0.274

LTL

TC

− 0.059

0.031

0.052

TC

ALS

− 0.098

0.032

0.002

LTL

ALS

0.097

0.089

0.274

LTL

TG

− 0.095

0.028

0.001

TG

ALS

− 0.045

0.044

0.309

LTL

ALS

0.097

0.089

0.274

LTL

HDL

0.082

0.029

0.005

HDL

FTD

− 0.035

0.125

0.786

LTL

FTD

− 0.208

0.308

0.498

LTL

LDL

− 0.060

0.031

0.057

LDL

FTD

− 0.139

0.107

0.196

LTL

FTD

− 0.208

0.308

0.498

LTL

TC

− 0.059

0.031

0.052

TC

FTD

− 0.142

0.104

0.172

LTL

FTD

− 0.208

0.308

0.498

LTL

TG

− 0.095

0.028

0.001

TG

FTD

− 0.018

0.140

0.898

LTL

FTD

− 0.208

0.308

0.498

Asian

LTL

HDL

− 0.020

0.022

0.366

HDL

ALS

0.108

0.129

0.404

LTL

ALS

− 0.284

0.180

0.116

LTL

LDL

0.003

0.023

0.898

LDL

ALS

− 0.234

0.131

0.073

LTL

ALS

− 0.284

0.180

0.116

LTL

TC

− 0.002

0.014

0.911

TC

ALS

− 0.276

0.214

0.197

LTL

ALS

− 0.284

0.180

0.116

LTL

TG

0.018

0.014

0.214

TG

ALS

0.160

0.195

0.414

LTL

ALS

− 0.284

0.180

0.116

  1. Pop population, EUR European, LTL leukocyte telomere length, HDL high density lipoprotein, LDL low density lipoprotein, TC total cholesterol, TG triglycerides, ALS amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, FTD frontotemporal dementia, p p value,
  2. The effect size and the standard error of the relationship with Exposure to Mediator, Mediator to Outcome and Exposure to Outcome are denoted as a, b, c and SE(a), SE(b), SE(c), respectively.
  3. The marginally significant causal association between LTL and LDL/TC and the significant causal association between LDL/TC and ALS in the European population are shown in bold.