Research
Hormonal
Higher Body Mass Index (BMI) causally increases GDF15 plasma levels, identifying BMI as a driver of GDF15 elevation rather than the reverse.
High GDF15 is a consequence of higher body weight, not the cause. Managing BMI is the primary lever; GDF15 levels will naturally decrease as metabolic stress is reduced.
GoodSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Using reverse MR, we identified a potential causal association of body mass index on GDF15 (IVW pFDR=0.0072).
Why this rating
Reverse Mendelian Randomization in large cohorts supports the causal link, though sensitivity analyses showed some pleiotropy.
Source
Integrated analyses of growth differentiation factor-15 concentration and cardiometabolic diseases in humans
Susanna Lemmelä et al. · eLife · 2022
DOI 10.7554/elife.76272
Meta-analysis · 3 studiesCited 24×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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