Exploring the potential risk factors of myopia: A phenome-wide Mendelian randomization association study

Abstract Introduction Myopia is a leading cause of visual impairment worldwide, whose pathogenesis remains poorly understood. Identification of its risk factors would benefit the management and treatment of myopia. Methods We comprehensively performed phenome-wide Mendelian randomization analysis (MR-PheWAS) to explore causal factors and potential therapeutic targets for myopia in participants from the UK Biobank study. Results Our PheWAS revealed that 55 robust associations (1 disease, 2 employment, 3 cognitive functions, 4 sex-specific factors, 4 mental health factors, 5 lifestyle and environmental factors, 10 sociodemographic factors, 12 physical measures and 14 ocular measures/conditions) were significantly causally correlated with myopia. Conclusions The results indicate that myopia may be influenced by several factors, including serum metabolic traits, fatty acid intake, fat-related indices, mental health, as well as some previously acknowledged risk factors. Future clinical trials are needed to verify our results.