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The genetics of asthma and allergic diseases: pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together.

DOI:10.1097/ACI.0b013e328364ebc3 Allergic asthma, a prevalent chronic allergic disorder of the respiratory system, afflicts patients of all ages, causes significant morbidity and mortality and consequently, generates substantial costs in industrialized countries. Although its pathogenesis remains largely undefined, we know that genetic and environmental factors play an important role. In recent years, we have seen considerable progress in the unraveling of the genetic contribution to the susceptibility of developing asthma and disease severity. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been successful in identifying loci associated with asthma, eczema and related phenotypes as illustrated in this issue by Lockett and Holloway [1] and Marenholz et al. [2]. However, as for many complex diseases or phenotypes, the genetic variants identified by GWAS confer relatively small increases in risk and explain only partially the genetic component of these multifactorial traits. Thus, many other genes remain to be identified and verified for their biological relevance in diseases. The detection of genes involved in complex diseases and the biological interpretation of GWAS findings can be facilitated with gene expression data. In his review, Bossé [3] discussed the strengths and weaknesses of many expression quantitatively trait locus (eQTL) mapping studies conducted until recently for asthma and asthma-related traits and described the recent findings of eQTL studies performed in relevant asthma cell type and tissues. In addition to identifying genetic association with diseases at the genome level, GWAS have also been successful in generating new hypotheses regarding disease pathogenesis. More particularly, GWAS have shown that genes with pleiotropic effects are more frequent than anticipated. In other words, there are more genes associated with multiple diseases than previously expected. The identification of these pleiotropic genes implies that there are master regulators of biological processes. In this issue Marenholz et al. [2] described new findings regarding common pathways involved in the development of eczema and other immunerelated traits, including asthma, allergy, and coeliac disease. Moreover, as stated by the authors, the