Abstract

Allergic diseases such as atopic asthma are considered multifactorial disorders involved in both genetic and environmental factors. To identify genes conferring susceptibility for allergic diseases, candidate gene approaches and the genome-wide searches have been carried out in different ethnic populations, and several susceptibility genes have been identified. Although many interesting genes have been proposed to play a role in allergic diseases, none have been established with strengths comparable to those of the susceptibility genes for Alzheimer's disease and age-related macular degeneration. Because allergic diseases are multifactorial disorders, single gene cannot be responsible for the development. The importance of analyzing gene-gene and gene-environment interactions will be emphasized in the future.