Genome-wide association study in Spanish identifies ADAM metallopeptidase with thrombospondin type 1 motif, 9 (ADAMTS9), as a novel asthma susceptibility gene.

Abstract

Numerous candidate gene and linkage studies have identified loci associated with asthma susceptibility. Recently, the analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the entire genome through genome-wide association studies (GWASs) has provided new insights into asthma pathogenesis. However, these GWASs have revealed only a handful of firm asthma susceptibility genes, explaining a small proportion of the disease heritability. Genetic risk can vary among different populations, and in previous GWASs, Spanish subjects were poorly represented. We hypothesized that a GWAS of asthma in Spanish subjects examining the comprehensive catalogue of genetic variation from the 1000 Genomes Project could reveal new susceptibility genes. Here, we performed the first GWAS of asthma in a Spanish population using a 3-stage design, analyzing a total of 1180 cases and 1915 control subjects.