Summary
This large genome-wide association study in 417,580 Europeans identified 143 genetic loci influencing 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration, implicating biological pathways including lipid metabolism, dermal properties, and vitamin D metabolite conjugation. Mendelian randomisation analysis found no robust evidence that vitamin D status causally influences common health phenotypes (BMI, psychiatric disorders), but instead detected that many phenotypes have causal effects on vitamin D concentrations, suggesting reverse causality in observational associations.
UK applicability
The findings are directly applicable to UK populations given the ancestry composition of the study sample. The results may inform interpretation of observational associations between vitamin D status and health outcomes in UK clinical and epidemiological contexts, suggesting that health conditions may influence vitamin D metabolism rather than vice versa.
Key measures
25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) concentration; 143 independent loci in 112 1-Mb regions; causal effects estimated via Mendelian randomisation models
Outcomes reported
The study identified 143 independent genetic loci associated with 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration in a large European population sample. Mendelian randomisation analysis examined the causal relationships between vitamin D status and various health phenotypes including BMI and psychiatric disorders.
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