Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and smoking behavior are pinned by a series of genetic factors according to new research published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD is, according to health statistics provided by federal authorities, the third leading cause of death in the United States. Until now, nine out of 10 deaths caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are also linked with smoking.
Nonetheless, of six people diagnosed with COPD, 1 has never smoked. Looking at these statistics and trying to understand the deeper link between COPD and other factors that impair proper lung function, such as smoking behavior, Professor Ian Hall with the University of Nottingham Queen’s Medical Center in collaboration with a wider research team generated an extensive research database from the U.K. Biobank.
The research team looked at the connection between smoking and COPD through the lens of
“genetic architecture of smoking behavior and lung function phenotypes”.
From the U.K. Biobank, 152,030 people were selected to participate in the research. All of them are white, and range from heavy smokers – 46,758 people to non-smokers – 105, 272 people, with a wide array of lung function, rated from best to poorest. Lung function is measured via an indicator called forced expiratory volume or FEV.
This can be low or high, depending on the person, and stands as the basis of the lung function phenotypes the research team was looking for. FEV1 or how much air is exhaled in the first second of measurement was crucial for the research to indicate how healthy the lungs of the participants were.
Genetic data and a new genotyping array were used to measure and analyze over 800,000 genetic variants for each of the participants selected from the U.K. Biobank. As such, FEV, COPD and smoking behavior were compared for all participants through the prism of the genetic variants.
As a result of this extensive research, six new genetic variants were discovered. All of them pinpointed a link with COPD and lung health. According to the researchers, these new findings are inviting to further research, as well as a new outlook on gene regulation, treatments for lung disease and most importantly, prevention mechanisms and strategies.
Photo Credits: Flickr