Causal effects of early-life traits on lung function trajectory: a Mendelian randomization study

Childhood-onset asthma is linked to higher odds of lower FEV1 trajectory groups in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, with an MR OR of 9.62 (95% CI 1.49–119.7).

• Why it matters: COPD risk is often preceded by subnormal lung function trajectories, but it is unclear which early-life phenotypes have causal influence on these adverse patterns.
• What they did: Using two-stage residual inclusion Mendelian randomization with polygenic risk scores from large genome-wide association studies, the study tested nine early-life exposures against lower FEV1 trajectory groups from latent profile analysis in 5,165 participants.
• The result: MR supported a causal effect for childhood-onset asthma on lower trajectories, while birth weight and aeroallergen sensitization showed directionally consistent but imprecise results and BMI was near-null.

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