The cystic fibrosis gene is not likely to be involved in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

The etiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is still unknown, and both genetic and environmental factors may play a role. Some clinical aspects of COPD occur similarly in cystic fibrosis (CF), particularly in adult patients. A DNA polymorphic marker in strong linkage disequilibrium with the CF locus has been used to check the hypothesis that mutations of this locus might be involved in COPD. Its allele frequencies have been found to be in equilibrium in COPD patients as well as in appropriate control subjects. The determinants possibly involved in genetic predisposition to COPD therefore do not seem to comprise CF gene mutations.