title: Genetic epidemiology of acute lung injury: choosing the right candidate genes is the first step.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. jchristi@cceb.med.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Jason D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Christie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016638:Critical Illness; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006801:Humans; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011379:Prognosis; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy