Lessons Learned From GWAS of Asthma

Kyung Won Kim; Carole Ober

doi:10.4168/aair.2019.11.2.170

Lessons Learned From GWAS of Asthma

Allergy Asthma Immunol Res. 2019 Mar;11(2):170-187. doi: 10.4168/aair.2019.11.2.170.

Authors

Kyung Won Kim¹, Carole Ober²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Severance Hospital, Institute of Allergy, Brain Korea 21 PLUS project for Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. kwkim@yuhs.ac.
² Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.

Abstract

Asthma is a common complex disease of the airways. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of asthma have identified many risk alleles and loci that have been replicated in worldwide populations. Although the risk alleles identified by GWAS have small effects and explain only a small portion of prevalence, the discovery of asthma loci can provide an understanding of its genetic architecture and the molecular pathways involved in disease pathogenesis. These discoveries can translate into advances in clinical care by identifying therapeutic targets, preventive strategies and ultimately approaches for personalized medicine. In this review, we summarize results from GWAS of asthma from the past 10 years and the insights gleaned from these discoveries.

Keywords: Asthma; genome-wide association study.

Publication types

Review

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding