Background
There is some disagreement regarding the association between circulating micronutrient levels and the risk of frailty, according to prior observational research. Using a two-sample Mendelian Randomisation (TSMR) method, we explored the causal relationship between circulating micronutrient levels and the risk of frailty.
Methods
We gathered and screened instrumental variables (IVs) for eight circulating micronutrients, including selenium, zinc, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, folic acid, and vitamins C, D, and E, from published genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and the IEU OpenGWAS open database. Frailty summary data were generated from meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) found in the UK Biobank (n = 164,610) and Twin Gene (n = 10,616). We ran three studies: a main analysis using independently released GWAS data, a secondary analysis using IVs filtered from OpenGWAS data, and a meta-analysis of the findings from the two MR analyses.
Results
For circulating levels of the eight micronutrients, the pooled βs were − 0.02 (95% CI: -0.090, 0.001; vitamin C), -0.021 (95% CI: -0.045, 0.001; vitamin B12), 0.029 (95% CI: -0.013, 0.072; folic acid),-0.059 (95% CI: -0.183, -0.065; vitamin D), -0.011 (95% CI: -0.099, 0.075; vitamin E), 0.006 (95% CI: -0.047, 0.061; vitamin B6), 0.004 (95% CI: -0.007, 0.017; zinc) and − 0.005 (95% CI:-0.018, 0.008; selenium).
Conclusions
To summarize, there is no evidence for a connection between the occurrence of frailty and the eight micronutrients, suggesting that supplementation with these nutrients may have little therapeutic value in preventing frailty.