Progress in the genetics of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

摘要

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a multifactorial disease caused by the interaction of genetic susceptibility and environmental factors. Although cigarette smoking is the main environmental risk factor for developing COPD, only about 15 % of smokers develop clinically significant disease. Genetic researches in this field mainly focused on variants of genes involved in protease anti-protease systems, defense against oxidative stress and inflammation. In addition to the candidate gene studies, genome wide approach including genome wide association studies will be extensively done in the near future.