Asthma gene found in African Americans

U.S. researchers have discovered a genetic mutation unique to African Americans that links to heighten their asthma risk, according to reports published on Sunday in the journal Nature Genetics. Researchers of University of Chicago found a gene, PYHIN1, and its variations may account for asthma risk in people of African descent. In their study, they examined data from nine previous genome-wide association studies, totaling more than 2 million single nucleotide polymorphisms in 3,246 asthma patients and 3,385 control patient, 1,702 patient-parent groupings, 355 family-based cases, and 468 family-based controls. In the study, the researchers found that between 26 percent and 29 percent of people of African-descent carried at least one copy of the gene.  In particular, one polymorphism of the gene was 34 percent more likely found in African-American and Afro-Caribbean people with asthma.  More interestingly, this variant of the gene is rarely found in Caucasian people and in Latino population, it was found in less than 5 percent. This new variant is part of a family of genes linked with the body's response to viral infections. It is thought to be involved in interferon signaling, which could influence the occurrence of asthma. The team stressed that each gene variant on its own plays only a small role in increasing asthma risk, but that risk could be multiplied when combined with other risk genes and with environmental factors.