Fig. 1: Hypothesized relationship between the genetic variants G, branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) X1, X2, and X3, and outcome Y in the presence of unobserved confounder U.
From: Branched chain amino acids harbor distinct and often opposing effects on health and disease
The BCAAs (X) are affected by genetic variants G, with some variants affecting specific BCAAs (e.g., G1) and other genetic variants affecting multiple BCAAs (e.g., G12). The unobserved confounder U affects all three BCAAs and outcome Y. Genetic variants G only affect outcome Y through BCAAs X.
