Genetic-smoking interactions affect lung function and COPD outcomes
Kim W, Moll M, Qiao D, et al. Interaction of Cigarette Smoking and Polygenic Risk Score on Reduced Lung Function. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(12):e2139525.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2787224
“In this UK Biobank cohort study of 319 730 UK citizens, FEV1/FVC was associated with polygenic risk score (PRS)-by-smoking interactions, and smoking was detrimental across all categories of estimated genetic risk, although it was worse for those with the highest estimated genetic risks. For every reported 20 pack-years of smoking, individuals in the top decile compared with the bottom decile of genetic risk showed nearly twice the reduction in FEV1/FVC.”
An Editorial on this Research states, “In summary, PRS-by-smoking interaction expands upon prior work and provides more conclusive evidence than before, showing that individuals at high genetic risk face the greatest detrimental outcomes of smoking on lung function and COPD. While promising, these interaction findings still merit replication in independent cohorts.”
Stephen Hamann
