Genetic predicted causal inferences between antioxidants and birth weight

Observational studies have suggested a relationship between antioxidants and birth weight (BW). However, the causal association remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the causal relationship between antioxidants and BW. Genome wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics for 4 endogenous and 7 exogenous antioxidants, as well as BW were obtained from GWAS studies and UK biobank. A two -sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was conducted with fixed -effects model inverse variance weighted (IVW) as the primary analytical method, while MR Egger and weighted median used as auxiliary. A series of sensitivity analyses were conducted to verify the robustness of the results. The MR results revealed that genetically predicted higher superoxide dismutase (SOD, p = 0.025; 95% CI: 0.008, 0.043; P = 0.005) and zinc (p = 0.030; 95% CI: 0.013, 0.047; P = 0.001) levels were significantly associated with higher BW. Sensitivity analysis verified the robustness of the MR results. Our study reinforced the existing evidence supporting a significant positive association between SOD and zinc with BW, providing new genetic evidence for antioxidant supplementation during pregnancy to prevent low BW infants. Further deeper comprehension studies are warranted to confirm these findings.