Clinical and Translational Research
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Jul 15, 2024; 16(7): 3055-3068
Published online Jul 15, 2024. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v16.i7.3055
Causal effects of genetic birth weight and gestational age on adult esophageal diseases: Mendelian randomization study
Lian-Cheng Ruan, Yang Zhang, Lang Su, Ling-Xiao Zhu, Si-Lin Wang, Qiang Guo, Bin-Gen Wan, Sheng-Yu Qiu, Sheng Hu, Yi-Ping Wei, Qiao-Ling Zheng
Lian-Cheng Ruan, Yang Zhang, Lang Su, Ling-Xiao Zhu, Si-Lin Wang, Qiang Guo, Bin-Gen Wan, Sheng-Yu Qiu, Sheng Hu, Yi-Ping Wei, Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China
Qiao-Ling Zheng, Nanchang Medical College, Nanchang 330004, Jiangxi Province, China
Co-first authors: Lian-Cheng Ruan and Yang Zhang.
Co-corresponding authors: Yi-Ping Wei and Qiao-Ling Zheng.
Author contributions: Ruan LC and Zhang Y contributed equally to this work. Ruan LC conceived the project and wrote the paper; Zhang Y and Su L collaborated in designing the analysis plans; Zhu LX and Wan BG collected relevant gene phenotype data; Wang SL, Quo Q, Qiu SY and Hu S provided technical support throughout the research process; Wei YP and Zheng QL contributed equally to this study; Zheng QL and Wei YP both rigorously reviewed and proofread the content of the article, and put forward reasonable improvement plans; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81860379 and No. 81560345; and Key Research and Development Program of Jiangxi Province, No. 20223BBG71009.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yi-Ping Wei, MD, PhD, Chief Doctor, Professor, Surgeon, Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, No. 566 Xuefu Avenue, Honggutan District, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China. weiyip2000@hotmail.com
Received: March 11, 2024
Revised: April 23, 2024
Accepted: May 7, 2024
Published online: July 15, 2024
Processing time: 122 Days and 23.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Our study demonstrates that low birth weight, rather than prematurity, is associated with increased risk of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and Barrett’s esophagus (BE) in adulthood, with no association found for esophageal adenocarcinoma. Furthermore, this relationship is influenced by the mediating effects of educational attainment and height. Attention to educational attainment and height during the growth process of low-birth-weight individuals is necessary to reduce the incidence of GERD and BE.