Genetic epidemiology of acute lung injury: choosing the right candidate genes is the first step
-
Correspondence: Jason D Christie jchristi@cceb.med.upenn.edu
Assistant Professor of Medicine and Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, and the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Critical Care 2004, 8:411-413 doi:10.1186/cc2931
See related review article http://ccforum.com/content/8/6/440
Published: 19 August 2004Abstract
In an innovative scientific review in this issue, Grigoryev and colleagues report a method for choosing candidate genes for acute lung injury (ALI) based on gene expression data derived from multiple animal models of mechanical ventilation and shear stress. The authors conclude there are five key biologic processes that warrant further investigation: inflammatory and immune responses, cell proliferation, chemotaxis, and blood coagulation. This review represents an important first step toward studying the genetic epidemiology of ventilator-induced lung injury and ALI. The application of these findings to future human studies of the genetic influence on ALI risks and outcomes is discussed here.