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Smokers who survive their habit into old age may
hold the key to better lung health for all,
according to a study funded by the MRC.
For the first time, UK researchers have identified
genetic differences which affect the likelihood of
whether or not a person will smoke, and the
predisposition of both heavy smokers and non-smokers
to suffer from poor lung health.
The new findings, which used the first analyses of
genetic data from participants in UK Biobank, may
one day help scientists develop better treatments
for diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD), a collection of life-threatening
lung disorders affecting almost one million people
in the UK. The findings could also help improve
interventions aimed at helping smokers to give up.
Researchers, studied lung health in approximately
500,000 UK Biobank participants.
A subset of 50,000 of these participants were
selected based on their lung health and whether or
not they were heavy smokers or had never smoked.
The researchers then compared these factors with 28
million genetic variants in each participant, making
this study one of the most detailed of its kind. The
team were able to find parts of the human genome
never before associated with a person’s lung health,
as well as five sections of DNA shown for the first
time to relate to being a heavy smoker.
The discoveries help to explain why some people can
have relatively good lung health, despite smoking,
and why some can suffer from lung conditions even if
they have never smoked before.
Professor Martin Tobin said: “Many, but not all,
smokers develop the disease. Genetics play a big
part, as they do in smoking behaviour. Our research
helps to tell us why, paving the way for improved
prevention and treatment.”
The scientists hope to expand the study to look at
the genetics of all 500,000 participants when the
data become available in 2016.
The study, which is published in the Lancet
Respiratory Medicine, was conducted by the UK BiLEVE
- UK Lung Exome Variant Evaluation team of
researchers.
For more information
Novel insights into the genetics of smoking
behaviour, lung function, and chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (UK BiLEVE): a genetic association
study in UK Biobank
link...
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