Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 29, 2026
One-step Metabolomics: Carbohydrates, Organic and Amino Acids Quantified in a Single Procedure
Published on: June 25, 2010
Discovery of urinary metabolite biomarkers of psychiatric disorders using two-sample Mendelian randomization
Jihan K Zaki1,2, Jakub Tomasik2, Jade A McCune1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Rd, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK.
Background:
Mental health disorders cause substantial patient suffering, which could be alleviated through early diagnostic biomarkers. While biomarker discovery is costly, genetic methods utilizing data from large-scale studies, such as Mendelian randomization, may provide a cost-effective approach.
Methods:
A two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis was conducted to identify potential urinary biomarkers of seven psychiatric disorders using summary statistics from GWAS data.
Results:
The analysis revealed 67 analyte-disorder associations, of which 21 were exclusive to a single disorder. Notable associations were observed between tyrosine and schizophrenia (β = -0.041, SE = 0.013, Q = 0.027), creatine and bipolar disorder (β = -0.077, SE = 0.019, Q = 0.002), pyridoxal (β = 0.10, SE = 0.03, Q = 0.042) and ferulic acid 4-sulfate (β = 0.077, SE = 0.025, Q = 0.037) to anorexia nervosa, and N, N-dimethylglycine to ADHD (β = -0.39, SE = 0.11, Q = 0.008).
Conclusion:
The results identify candidate urinary biomarkers and demonstrate the utility of genetic instruments for biomarker discovery, warranting experimental validation in independent cohorts.
Clinical Trial Number:
Not applicable.