{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T04:08:56Z","timestamp":1784088536648,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784073600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Genet."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>It remains unclear whether low blood zinc levels in cirrhosis patients are a cause or a consequence of the disease.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Seven blood metals (calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, selenium, zinc) were assessed using two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR). We performed reverse MR analysis on the positive results and subsequently evaluated the zinc findings in a cohort of 137 cirrhosis patients.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>MR analysis revealed that higher genetically predicted zinc levels were associated with an increased cirrhosis risk (OR = 1.24, 95% CI = [1.04, 1.46], p = 0.014). No significant associations were found for other metals. Reverse MR analysis revealed no reverse causality between liver cirrhosis and zinc. In the clinical cohort, 60.5% of patients had hypozincemia, and zinc levels declined progressively with worsening Child-Pugh score (r = \u2013 0.615, p &amp;lt; 0.01). Additionally, a positive correlation was observed between serum zinc levels and albumin (ALB). In contrast, zinc levels were inversely associated with total bilirubin (TBIL), prothrombin time (PT), and international normalized ratio (INR).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Genetically higher zinc levels predispose individuals to cirrhosis, whereas advanced cirrhosis induces zinc deficiency. These bidirectional findings suggest that zinc exerts opposite effects at different disease stages.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fgene.2026.1833546","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T03:53:06Z","timestamp":1784087586000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Bidirectional association between zinc and liver cirrhosis: evidence from mendelian randomization and clinical validation"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Liu-dan","family":"Liang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities","place":["Baise, Guangxi, China"]},{"name":"Guangxi Clinical Medical Research Center for Hepatobiliary Diseases","place":["Baise, Guangxi, 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