NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Genetic deficiency of the glutathione S transferase (GST) enzyme may increase the risk of children developing asthma following environmental tobacco smoke exposure, German researchers report in the July issue of Thorax.
“Knowing about genetic risk factors in these children may help to focus preventive efforts on those who need it the most,” lead investigator Dr. Michael Kabesch told Reuters Health.
Dr. Kabesch, of Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, and colleagues note that GST is involved in the detoxification of components of environmental tobacco smoke and may influence airway inflammation and lung development.
To determine what effect this genetic and environmental interaction might have on the risk of asthma, the researchers genotyped 3054 schoolchildren to test for absence of the GSTM1 and GSTT1 alleles.
Overall, the frequency of the GSTM1 null genotype was about 51% and that of the GSTT1 null genotype was about 17%. Concomitant absence of both was seen in about 8%.
In those lacking GSTM1 who were exposed to environmental tobacco smoke, the risk of asthma was 5.5 times that of those with the allele and no environmental tobacco smoke exposure. The corresponding odds ratio for current wheezing was 4.7 and for shortness of breath, 8.9.
Moreover, in utero smoke exposure in GSTT1 deficient children was associated with significant decrements in lung function compared to such children without environmental tobacco smoke exposure.
Dr. Kabesch concluded that such genotyping “will help to identify those children who are at the greatest risk to suffer from passive smoke exposure.”
Source: Thorax 2004;59:569-573. [ Google search on this article ]
MeSH Headings:Tobacco Smoke PollutionCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
