Gene-Environment Interaction in Complex Diseases: Asthma as an Illustrative Case

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

Genetic studies of asthma have been plagued by a remarkable difficulty in constantly replicating results in different populations for most of the polymorphisms studied. This was true even when the quality of the study design and statistical power were not an issue. The most plausible explanation for these inconsistent results is that genetic polymorphisms, in most cases, do not directly influence risk for asthma but instead modulate the effect of environmental exposures on the inception and clinical expression of asthma and allergies. A better understanding of the genetics of asthma is thus inseparable from a better understanding of the mechanisms by which environmental factors increase the risk for asthma or protect against it.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationGenetic Effects on Environmental Vulnerability to Disease
PublisherWiley
Pages184-197
Number of pages14
ISBN (Electronic)9780470696781
ISBN (Print)9780470777800
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 12 2008

Keywords

  • Allergy-related genetic polymorphism phenotypes
  • CD14 and endotoxin exposure gene-environment interaction
  • CD14 gene (CD14/-0159) and asthma
  • Gene-environment interaction paradigm
  • Understanding asthma genetics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Medicine (miscellaneous)
  • General Medicine

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