Maternal Smoking and Receptor Gene Variant Combine to Increase Risk for Childhood Asthma

Frank Gilliland, MD, Ph.D.
Preventive Medicine Department
University of Southern California
NIEHS Grants P01ES009581, P01ES011627, and P30ES007048

Exposure to in utero maternal smoking and childhood second hand smoke are associated with wheezing, a common symptom of asthma, according to a new study from NIEHS-funded investigators at the University of Southern California. However, children who were homozygous for a single nucleotide polymorphism in the beta2-adrenergic receptor and who were exposed to maternal smoking in utero were three-times more likely to develop asthma symptoms compared to unexposed children without the altered gene. Similar effects were evident for exposure to second hand smoke during childhood.

polymorphism. The researchers examined two cohorts of children recruited in 1993 and 1996 and found similar results. The 3,128 non-Hispanic and Hispanic white children were participants in the Children’s Health Study.

These results suggest that because of the high prevalence of asthma in children, intervention strategies are critically needed to reduce smoke exposures to children in general and especially those who are genetically susceptible to the adverse effects of exposure to second hand smoke.

Citation: Wang C, Salam MT, Islam T, Wenten M, Gauderman WJ, Gilliland FD. Effects of in utero and childhood tobacco smoke exposure and beta2-adrenergic receptor genotype on childhood asthma and wheezing. Pediatrics. 2008 Jul;122(1):e107-14.