Microsatellite alterations suggestive of organ-specific asthma and atopy in exhaled breath condensate

Several genetic linkage studies demonstrated the existence of organ-specific disease susceptibility genes which may induce asthma and atopy (1). In particular, chromosomes 6p and 14q seem to host asthma/atopy susceptibility genes (2). Microsatellite alterations (MAs) in these regions were detected in sputum cells of asthmatics (3). The MAs can serve as a valid tool to discriminate between asthma and COPD patients (4). MAs are undetectable in nasal cytology samples from patients with allergic rhinitis as bronchial asthma MAs are specific for disease target organ (5). The possibility to analyze MAs in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) was demonstrated. The method was validated by the comparative study of the EBC DNA MAs and paired lung tissue DNA, allowing the use of this sample in lung disease genetic studies (6). The aim of the study was to investigate MAs of chromosomes 6p and 14q in EBC DNA of a group of asthmatics with atopy (AAs), a group of nonatopic asthmatics (ANAs) and a group of nonasthmatic atopics (As), and to verify whether atopy and asthma have different genetic traits.