Mechanisms of asthma and allergic inflammationGenetic pleiotropy between asthma and obesity in a community-based sample of twins
Section snippets
Sample population
The study population consisted of 1001 monozygotic (MZ) and 383 dizygotic (DZ) same-sex twin pairs registered in the University of Washington Twin Registry, which is a community-based sample of twins derived from the driver's license applications of the Washington State Department of Licensing. Unique to Washington State, all new applicants for a driver's license are asked if they are a twin. Because Washington State law allows state agencies to share data, a weekly electronic list of all new
Sample characteristics
The University of Washington Twin Registry has enrolled 1042 pairs of MZ, 406 pairs of same-sex DZ, and 422 pairs of opposite-sex DZ twins. Because of the known sex differences in the association between asthma and obesity,3, 4, 12, 15, 16 the analyses were restricted to 1001 MZ and 383 DZ same-sex twin pairs with complete asthma and BMI information (2768 individuals). The prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma was 14.1%, and that of obesity was 13.5%. The characteristics of this sample
Discussion
Asthma and obesity are common conditions in the United States and many other countries.1, 2 Several studies have shown that asthma and obesity are associated, especially in women.3, 4, 12, 15, 16 The relationship between asthma and obesity was similarly identified in this community-based sample of twins. The magnitude of the association between asthma and obesity is modest in this and other studies; obesity is only one of the factors that influence the etiologically heterogeneous asthma
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Supported by National Institutes of Health grants K23HL04231 (TSH), K23HL72923 (MMW), and U19AI38429 (DB).
Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: T. Hallstrand has received grants from Merck and Co. Medical School grant awarded to the University of Washington in 2000 and is on the speakers' bureau for Merck and Co. All others—none disclosed.