Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a 21 amino acid peptide released from several types
of bronchial cells. It operates through two types of receptors, type A(ET-R
A) and type B(ET-RB) and has various activities in the pathophysiology of a
topic asthma, These genes are localised on different chromosomes where geno
me-wide searches have identified linkage for atopic asthma, thus supporting
the candidacy of ET-1 and its receptors for atopic asthma. A genetic assoc
iation study was performed with variants of these three genes in both Briti
sh (n = 300) and Japanese populations (n = 200), No significant association
was found between variants of EDN1 and EDNRB genes, and atopic asthma in e
ither population. However, variants of EDNRA gene showed a marginal associa
tion with atopy [odds = 0.39(95% CI: 0.17-0.89), p = 0.022, Pc = 0.066], es
pecially with antigen specific IgE levels [odds = 0.31 (95% CI: 0.20-0.77),
p = 0.006, Pc = 0.018] in the British population. These findings suggest t
hat EDNRA is a major candidate locus for atopy on chromosome 4. (C) 1999 Ac
ademic Press.