Fig. 3

MR conservative analysis results using genetically and biologically prioritized variants as instrumental variables. The genetic instruments we chose were prioritized in the original GWAS on metabolites using two approaches, namely a hypothesis-free genetic approach and a biological knowledge-based approach [20], which suggested likely causal genes for the amino acids. CI, confidence intervals; IV, instrumental variable; MAFLD, metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease; OR, odds ratio; SD, standard deviation