Smoking has been considered a risk factor for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in observational studies. To assess whether smoking plays a causal role in IPF, we performed a Mendelian randomization study using genetic association data of 10 382 cases with IPF and 968 080 controls. We found that genetic predisposition to smoking initiation (based on 378 variants) and lifetime smoking (based on 126 variants) were associated with a higher risk of IPF. Our study suggests a potential causal effect of smoking on increasing IPF risk from a genetic perspective.

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评估吸烟与特发性肺纤维化的因果作用：孟德尔随机研究

在观察性研究中，吸烟被认为是特发性肺纤维化（IPF）的危险因素。为了评估吸烟是否在 IPF 中起因果作用，我们使用 10 382 名 IPF 病例和 968 080 名对照者的遗传关联数据进行了孟德尔随机化研究。我们发现，开始吸烟（基于 378 种变异）和终生吸烟（基于 126 种变异）的遗传倾向与较高的 IPF 风险相关。我们的研究表明，从遗传角度来看，吸烟对增加 IPF 风险具有潜在的因果影响。