Particularly in the blood, MR analysis results showed that TNFSF13 and CD68 were associated with reduced ALS risk (TNFSF13: OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.32–0.64; CD68: OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.24–0.58), while TNFSF12, TBK1, and GPX3 were associated with increased ALS risk (TNFSF12: OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.19–1.56; TBK1: OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.19–1.42; GPX3: OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.15–1.43) (Additional file 1: Table S4). Here, CD68 is linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.