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Action on Smoking and Health
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Certain Gene May Put Some Children at Greater Risk of Developing Asthma from ETS [07/02-4]
Excerpts from: Gene increases smoking risk
Asthma UK [07/02/04]
Some children may be at a greater risk than others of developing asthma from
second-hand smoke because of their genes, say scientists.
A study of 3,000 German schoolchildren revealed that those with a deficiency in enzymes known as glutathione S transferases (GSTs) were more likely to have asthma symptoms when exposed to second-hand smoke than those without this genetic characteristic.
GSTs are enzymes that help to detoxify second-hand tobacco smoke. The children in this study were divided into groups of those with effective and less effective GSTs, as determined by their genes. The researchers then studied the effects of their exposure to smoking – both in their homes, and when they were in the womb.
They found that having deficient GSTs alone did not affect whether children had asthma symptoms. However, when this group of children were exposed to second-hand smoke they were much more likely to experience respiratory problems such as wheezing.
Those with this particular type of GST whose parents smoked were five times more likely to have asthma, and five times more likely to wheeze.
Children whose mothers had smoked during their pregnancies had worse lung function than those with non-smoking mothers.
'While environmental tobacco smoke exposure is a serious health hazard for children, some are even more susceptible to developing asthma and severe asthma symptoms when exposed to passive smoking,' said Dr Michael Kabesch, who led the study at the Children's University Hospital in Munich.
This research reinforces previous findings that have shown how a child's genes may predispose them to developing asthma from second-hand smoke.
The study also underlines the importance of protecting children from second-hand smoke to prevent them from developing the condition – a goal that a ban on public smoking would go some way towards achieving.
'The enzyme GST has been linked to childhood asthma and allergies in previous studies,' said Matthew Hallsworth, Asthma UK's Research Manager. 'This new research shows that defects in the gene for this enzyme may be associated with the development of asthma and wheezing in children when exposed to second-hand smoke or maternal smoking during pregnancy.
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