Modest genetic influence on bronchodilator response: a study in healthy twins

Aim To determine the reasons for large standard deviation of bronchodilator response (BDR) and establish whether there is a potential heritable component in healthy subjects. Methods 67 monozygotic and 42 dizygotic adult twin pairs were assessed for bronchodilator response (% change in FEV1 after inhaling 400 μg salbutamol). Univariate quantitative genetic modeling was performed. Results Multiple regression modeling showed a significant association between BDR and sex and baseline FEV1 (P < 0.05), while no association was found with smoking habits, body mass index, or age. Within pair correlation in monozygotic twins was modest (0.332), but higher than in dizygotic twins (0.258). Age-, sex-, and baseline FEV1- adjusted genetic effect accounted for 14.9% (95% confidence interval, CI 0%-53.1%) of the variance of BDR, shared environmental effect for 18.4% (95% CI 0%-46.8%), and unshared environmental effect for 66.8% (95% CI 46.8%-88.7%). Conclusion Our twin study showed that individual differences in BDR can be mostly explained by unshared environmental effects. In addition, it is the first study to show low, insignificant hereditary influences, independently from sex, age, and baseline FEV1.