A genome-wide association study on African-ancestry populations for asthma.

Background: Asthma is a complex disease characterized by striking ethnic disparities not explained entirely by environmental, social, cultural, or economic factors. Of the limited genetic studies performed on populations of African descent, notable differences in susceptibility allele frequencies have been observed.

Objectives: We sought to test the hypothesis that some genes might contribute to the profound disparities in asthma.

African ancestry is associated with risk of asthma and high total serum IgE in a population from the Caribbean Coast of Colombia.

African descended populations exhibit an increased prevalence of asthma and allergies compared to Europeans. One approach to distinguish between environmental and genetic explanations for this difference is to study relationships of asthma risk to individual admixture. We aimed to determine the admixture proportions of a case-control sample from the Caribbean Coast of Colombia currently participating in genetic studies for asthma, and to test for population stratification and association between African ancestry and asthma and total serum IgE levels (tIgE).

Gene encoding Duffy antigen/receptor for chemokines is associated with asthma and IgE in three populations.

Rationale: Asthma prevalence and severity are high among underserved minorities, including those of African descent. The Duffy antigen/receptor for chemokines is the receptor for Plasmodium vivax on erythrocytes and functions as a chemokine-clearing receptor. Unlike European populations, decreased expression of the receptor on erythrocytes is common among populations of African descent, and results from a functional T-46C polymorphism (rs2814778) in the promoter.

Host defense genes in asthma and sepsis and the role of the environment.

Purpose Of Review: There is growing evidence that innate immunity genes contribute to asthma pathogenesis. At the core of the innate immune response are ubiquitous, soluble fragments of bacterial lipopolysaccharide or endotoxin, and chronic exposure to domestic endotoxin has been shown to influence asthma severity. Asthmatic and atopic individuals are more sensitive to endotoxin than nonallergic individuals, suggesting a role for genetics in the innate immunity response, and the potential for gene-environment interactions.

The PTGDR gene is not associated with asthma in 3 ethnically diverse populations.

Background: The prostanoid DP receptor (PTGDR) gene on chromosome 14q22.1 has been identified as an asthma susceptibility gene. A haplotype with decreased transcription factor binding and transcription efficiency was associated with decreased asthma susceptibility in African American and white subjects.

The sick building syndrome: what is it when it is?

Sick building syndrome is a commonly applied diagnosis; often abused and misinterpreted to denote headaches, dizziness, fatigue and eye irritation associated with a building.