Gene variants claimed to be involved in asthma susceptibility 2/8/02. By the Public Health Genetics Unit Research published in the journal Nature suggests that variants of a gene called ADAM33 may be involved in susceptibility to asthma.

The international consortium of researchers used a genome-wide linkage scan on 460 families with at least two physician-diagnosed asthmatic siblings to identify a region of chromosome 20 that was significantly associated with asthma susceptibility. The significance of the linkage increased further when a tighter definition of asthma was used.

Case-control association studies, comparing affected individuals and matched controls for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 23 genes in the region, pinpointed polymorphisms in the ADAM33 gene as most strongly associated with asthma.

ADAM33 encodes a metalloproteinase (an enzyme that breaks down other proteins), and the variants of the gene that are associated with asthma may be implicated in the damage and thickening of airway walls that occurs in this condition.

PHGU comment: As always, confirmation by independent studies will be needed to strengthen the credentials of ADAM33 as a gene implicated in asthma susceptibility. If it stands up to further scrutiny, an understanding of how variation in the gene is related to airway damage in asthma may contribute to the development of better treatments for the disease.

Article courtesy of the Public Health Genetics Unit .

Further reading

Ven Eedewegh P et al. Association of the ADAM33 gene with asthma and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Nature 2002 418: 426-430. Abstract

Drazen J M and Weiss S T. Genetics: inherit the wheeze. Nature 2002 418: 383-384. Commentary