Vitamin D and health: genome-wide analysis and insights from Mendelian randomisation.

维生素D摄入量不足被认为是许多重要疾病的危险因素，如糖尿病、癌症和心血管疾病。然而，维生素D对健康影响的大部分证据来自观察性研究，基于这些研究的结论可能会受到方法学问题的影响，如偏见和混淆。在这项研究中，我们将使用一种基于遗传信息的新方法(所谓的孟德尔随机化)，我们的目标是看看维生素D和各种疾病风险之间的关联是否可以复制。如果发现复制，这将进一步支持维生素D和感兴趣的结果之间的因果联系。我们将使用1958年英国全国出生队列的数据，在40多年的时间里，对7000多名参与者进行了跟踪调查，收集了关于遗传标记和广泛的健康相关因素的详细信息，包括维生素D状况、生活方式、饮食和疾病风险指标。

Inadequate vitamin D intake has been implicated as a risk factor for many important diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. However, much of the evidence for the health effects of vitamin D comes from observational studies, and conclusions based on these studies may be affected by methodological problems such as bias and confounding. In this study, we will use a novel approach based on genetic information (so-called Mendelian Randomisation) and our aim is to see if the associations between vitamin D and the risk of various diseases can be replicated. If replication is found, this would give further support for a causal association between vitamin D and the outcome of interest. We will use data from the nationwide 1958 British birth cohort, in which over 7000 participants have been followed-up over four decades and detailed information has been collected on genetic markers and a wide-range of health related factors, including vitamin D status, lifestyle, diet, and indicators of disease risk.