Relationship Between Body Mass Index and Atopic Dermatitis: Critical Appraisal of a Mendelian Randomization Approach in Exploring Causality.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common, chronic inflammatory skin disease with a complex etiology including genetic and environmental risk factors. Obesity has been associated with increased AD risk and severity, but a causal relationship has not been established. In the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Budu-Aggrey et al. assessed the causality between elevated body mass index (BMI) and AD using a Mendelian randomization (MR)approach .