A tiny variation in a gene known as CHI3L1 increases susceptibility to asthma, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and decline in lung function, researchers report early online in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The gene variant causes increased blood levels of YKL-40, a biomarker for asthma. A slightly different version of the genetic variation lowers YKL-40 levels and protects against asthma.
Although the original discovery came from a study of a genetically isolated population, the Hutterites of South Dakota, the researchers were able to confirm the same connections between the CHI3L1 variations, YKL-40 levels and asthma susceptibility in three genetically diverse Caucasian populations from Chicago; Madison, Wisconsin; and Freiberg, Germany.
This gene, “may have important implications in the early identification of, susceptibility to, and prevention and treatment of asthma,” said Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., director, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
“This is exciting because it connects asthma susceptibility to a whole new pathway at the protein and the genetic levels,” …