Gene testing asthmatic children could lead to better treatment
(Medical Xpress)—Testing asthmatic children for a specific gene
could prevent their condition worsening, according to new
research by scientists in Dundee and Brighton. The arginine-16
genotype of the beta-2 receptor is carried by one in seven
sufferers and the research found their condition could be
aggravated by the use of the long-term controller medicine,
Salmeterol, a long acting beta-receptor stimulant, which is
administered through an inhaler. The research was carried out by
Professor Brian Lipworth and genetics expert Professor Colin
Palmer, both from the University of Dundee, and Professor
Somnath Mukhopadhyay from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School
(BSMS) which is run jointly by Brighton and Sussex universities.
They carried out the first genotyped study comparing additional
treatments given to asthmatic children who continue to
experience symptoms despite use of their prescribed inhaled
steroid preventer. More than a million UK chil