To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Asthma Genes Linked To Different Racial And Ethnic Groups, Study Shows URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/22E62.htm Doctor's Guide April 1, 1997
Bethesda, MD -- April 1, 1997 -- In the first search of the entire human genome in African Americans, Caucasians, and Hispanics with asthma, researchers supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) have found evidence for linkage of asthma-susceptibility genes to six previously-unreported chromosomal regions. Evidence for linkage was also detected in five regions previously reported to be linked to asthma-associated traits, such as bronchial hyperresponsivity and allergic sensitivity. Of the 11chromosomal regions identified, all but one were unique to only one racial or ethnic group, suggesting that the relative importance of specific asthma-susceptibility genes and the effects of environmental exposures may vary by race or ethnicity. The report, from the NHLBI Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Asthma (CSGA), appears in the April issue of Nature Genetics. "This is an intriguing study. It not only brings us one step closer to identifying all the important genes that contribute to the development of asthma, but it also provides a possible explanation for the substantial differences in disease prevalence and severity that we have observed among different racial and ethnic groups in the U.S.," according to NHLBI Director Dr. Claude Lenfant. "Of course, these findings must be replicated in additional families with asthma." The investigators currently are analyzing the 11 chromosomal regions in a new set of families to try to replicate the findings. The prevalence of asthma is greater for blacks (6.1 percent) than for whites (5.0 percent), while in Hispanics, it ranges from a low of 2.7 percent among Mexican-American children living in the Southwest to 11.2 percent for Puerto Rican children living in New York City. Both hospitalization and death rates for blacks are nearly triple those of whites. In the study, investigators at the 4 CSGA centers analyzed data on 380 children and adults with asthma (117 African Americans, 215 Caucasians, and 48 Hispanics). Each of the 140 families involved in the current analysis had at least 2 siblings with established asthma. The CSGA centers are the University of Chicago, the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, and the University of Minnesota. The gene mapping was performed by the NHLBI Mammalian Genotyping Service in Marshfield, WI. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.