Moderate-to-severe asthma in individuals of European ancestry: a genome-wide association study

Publication date: Available online 11 December 2018Source: The Lancet Respiratory MedicineAuthor(s): Nick Shrine, Michael A Portelli, Catherine John, María Soler Artigas, Neil Bennett, Robert Hall, Jon Lewis, Amanda P Henry, Charlotte K Billington, Azaz Ahmad, Richard J Packer, Dominick Shaw, Zara E K Pogson, Andrew Fogarty, Tricia M McKeever, Amisha Singapuri, Liam G Heaney, Adel H Mansur, Rekha Chaudhuri, Neil C ThomsonSummaryBackgroundFew genetic studies that focus on moderate-to-severe asthma exist. We aimed to identity novel genetic variants associated with moderate-to-severe asthma, see whether previously identified genetic variants for all types of asthma contribute to moderate-to-severe asthma, and provide novel mechanistic insights using expression analyses in patients with asthma.MethodsIn this genome-wide association study, we used a two-stage case-control design. In stage 1, we genotyped patient-level data from two UK cohorts (the Genetics of Asthma Severity and Phenotypes [GASP] initiative and the Unbiased BIOmarkers in PREDiction of respiratory disease outcomes [U-BIOPRED] project) and used data from the UK Biobank to collect patient-level genomic data for cases and controls of European ancestry in a 1:5 ratio. Cases were defined as having moderate-to-severe asthma if they were taking appropriate medication or had been diagnosed by a doctor. Controls were defined as not having asthma, rhinitis, eczema, allergy, emphysema, or chronic bronchitis as diagnosed by a...
Source: The Lancet Respiratory Medicine - Category: Respiratory Medicine Source Type: research