Genomic Approaches to Understanding Asthma

Abstract

Asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease in developed nations, and it is a complex disease that has high social and economic costs. Asthma and its associated intermediate phenotypes are under a substantial degree of genetic control. The genetic aetiology of asthma offers a means of better understanding its pathogenesis and, thus, improving preventive strategies, diagnostic tools, and therapies. Considerable effort and expense have been expended in attempts to detect genetic loci contributing to asthma susceptibility, and extensive candidate gene studies and a number of whole-genome screens have been undertaken. This article reviews the current state of knowledge of the genetics of asthma, with a focus on genomic approaches to understanding allergic diseases.

Overview of the pharmacogenetics of asthma treatment

“…15 Of all asthma cases, 90%, including asthma in adults, has its origins in childhood. Of concern are the increases in asthma prevalence 16 and hospitalization rates.…”

Exploration of the Genetic Epidemiology of Asthma: a review, with a Focus on Prevalence in Children and Adolescents in the Caribbean

“…As a consequence, FcεRIβ mediates asthma by activating inflammatory cells (14,16,22). Further studies in the Indian population confirmed that a promoter-dependent mechanism mediates FcεRIβ's pathway, leading to asthma (23).…”

“…Different genes may be involved in the pathogenesis of asthma, explaining the possibility of different outcomes amongst affected individuals (14,15). The complexity of the immunological network involved in the demonstration of the complete linkage of genes and asthma remain a barrier in understanding the aetiology, pathophysiology and management of asthma (16).…”

Étude d'association entre l'asthme et trois gènes candidats dans la population du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean /

“…Noter qu'à chaque niveau, on restreint notre cible et on augmente les possibilités de flanquer un gène candidat. On peut alors faire ressortir certaines régions contenant des gènes candidats qui seraient susceptibles d'être associés à la maladie (Palmer et Cookson, 2000). Cette approche est intéressante dans l'analyse génétique de l'asthme car plusieurs gènes seraient impliqués dans l'expression phénotypique et chacun de ceux-ci serait associé à une composante sous-phénotypique.…”