Asthma and allergy have the same genetic background

Doctors of Children medical centre of Philadelphia have established that such diseases as asthma and allergy in children have the same genetic background.

What is more, susceptibility of the child to one of the diseases frequently causes susceptibility to the other. 

On the basis of genetic analysis of several thousand of children, scientists have established that in the human organism there is a new isolated gene DENND18, which is responsible for the work of human immune system. This gene is responsible for response of our organism to foreign infections, such as viruses, bacteria and different allergies. According to medical workers, it is the second gene associated with asthma. 

Up to now it was thought that asthma was provoked by a combination of genetic and external causes. The researches state that asthma is liable to control with medications, but it is practically impossible to heal completely this disease, as the mechanism of its regulation is on genetic level.

According to global strategy GINA 2006, bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the respiratory tract, in which numerous cells and cell elements take part. Chronic inflammation conditions the development of bronchial hyperactivity, which leads to recurrent episodes of wheezing, dyspnea, obstruction feeling in the chest and cough, especially at night and in the early morning. 

The researches have established that altogether 25 genes are associated with asthma in six and more populations. They include, for example, genes of interleukins 4, 10, and 13; tumor necrosis factors and other. Many of them encode proteins of immune system or modulate the inflammation. However, even for these genes the results of investigations do not have sufficient reproducibility among all populations studied. It indicates to the fact that these genes are not associated with asthma development under all conditions. The researchers also assume that asthma is several different diseases and different genes play a different role in each type. For example, it has been demonstrated, that one of genetic differences (single nucleotide polymorphism 17q21) is associated with asthma development in the childhood. 

Today for treatment of bronchial asthma we use the preparations of basis therapy, which influence on the mechanism of the disease, with their help patients control asthma; as well as symptomatic preparations, which influence only on smooth muscles of bronchial tree and stop the attack.  

Adopted from: CyberSecurity