A little over a year ago, I reported on a European study that had identified a specific asthma gene that was linked to a 60 to 70% increase in the risk for developing asthma among British and German children. Although the size of the study group was significant (over 2000), the findings were very preliminary and needed to be corroborated by further study.

Now, it appears that has been started, as results of a new United States study have been published in a recent issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. This study found that the same ORMDL3 gene, located on chromosome 17, identified by the European team played a role in asthma development in their study group too. Interestingly, this held true only for the white children in the study, not the African-American children. Researchers emphasized that this association could also not be extended to include risk of developing asthma in adulthood.

Here are some highlights of the study:

• Conducted at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia by scientists from that hospital as well as the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
• Study team analyzed DNA from 807 white children with asthma, compared to 2,583 white children without the disease
• Team also analyzed DNA from 1,456 African-American children who had asthma and 1,973 who did not

There were a couple of notable differences in this newer study. First, this study found the ORMDL3 gene link existed in relation to asthma of any level of severity. In the European study, only families having 2 or 3 members with severe asthma were examined. Secondly, the U.S. researchers found evidence that the ORMDL3 gene may not be the only gene involved in raising susceptibility to asthma. By looking at other markers, they found that there may be genes outside the region occupied by ORMDL3. Further study may further illuminate this issue.

Researchers emphasize that gene research such as this can help refine treatment for asthma down the line. Treatment may even be customized for genetic factors at times. We live in interesting times for asthma, don’t you think? Have you ever been involved in asthma research? If so, share your experiences at our Asthma Forum, won’t you?