Exploring the relevance and extent of small airways dysfunction in asthma (ATLANTIS): baseline data from a prospective cohort study
BACKGROUND: Small airways dysfunction (SAD) is well recognised in asthma, yet its role in the severity and control of asthma is unclear. This study aimed to assess which combination of biomarkers, physiological tests, and imaging markers best measure the presence and extent of SAD in patients with asthma.METHODS: In this baseline assessment of a multinational prospective cohort study (the Assessment of Small Airways Involvement in Asthma [ATLANTIS] study), we recruited participants with and without asthma (defined as Global Initiative for Asthma severity stages 1-5) from general practices, the databases of chest physicians, and advertisements at 29 centres across nine countries (Brazil, Chi…
Variants associated with HHIP expression have sex-differential effects on lung function
Background: Lung function is highly heritable and differs between the sexes throughout life. However, little is known about sex-differential genetic effects on lung function. We aimed to conduct the first genome-wide genotype-by-sex interaction study on lung function to identify genetic effects that differ between males and females. Methods: We tested for interactions between 7,745,864 variants and sex on spirometry-based measures of lung function in UK Biobank (N=303,612), and sought replication in 75,696 independent individuals from the SpiroMeta consortium. Results: Five independent single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showed genome-wide significant (P<5x10-8) interactions with sex …