Childhood asthma is associated with COPD and known asthma variants in COPDGene: a genome-wide association study

Background Childhood asthma is strongly influenced by genetics and is a risk factor for reduced lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adults. This study investigates self-reported childhood asthma in adult smokers from the COPDGene Study. We hypothesize that childhood asthma is associated with decreased lung function, increased risk for COPD, and that a genome-wide association study (GWAS) will show association with established asthma variants. Methods We evaluated current and former smokers ages 45–80 of non-Hispanic white (NHW) or African American (AA) race. Childhood asthma was defined by self-report of asthma, diagnosed by a medical professional, with onset at