TY - JOUR T1 - What is the role of genetics in occupational asthma? JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 459 LP - 460 DO - 10.1183/09031936.00183508 VL - 33 IS - 3 AU - C. E. Mapp Y1 - 2009/03/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/33/3/459.abstract N2 - Occupational asthma (OA) is a disease characterised by variable airflow limitation and/or airway hyperresponsiveness, due to causes and conditions attributable to a particular occupational environment, and not to stimuli encountered outside the workplace 1. There are two types of OA, which are caused by two distinct mechanisms: immunological and nonimmunological. The former appears after a latency period and is induced by an immunoglobulin (Ig)E-dependent mechanism (triggered by most high- and some low-molecular-weight agents) or an IgE-independent mechanism (triggered by most low-molecular-weight agents). The latter type of OA is characterised by the absence of a latency period and occurs after accidental exposure to high levels of a respiratory irritant at work or outside the workplace 2. Although the exact cause of OA is not yet known, in general OA, similarly to nonoccupational asthma, may be caused by complex interactions between genes and the environment, including gene–environment, gene–gene, gene–gene–environment, and gene–environment–environment interactions 3. What, then, is the role of genetics in subjects with OA? And where should research focus attention? Addressing the second of these questions, asthma genetics has received much attention and has made much progress in recent decades. Importantly, the multifactorial pathogenesis of asthma has been recognised. That is, genetic research has shown that asthma behaves as a complex disease, and that it is not caused by single gene mutations 4. These findings have opened important challenges … ER -