Genetics of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Pathways to Precision

Heather M Giannini; Nuala J Meyer

doi:10.1016/j.ccc.2021.05.006

Genetics of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Pathways to Precision

Crit Care Clin. 2021 Oct;37(4):817-834. doi: 10.1016/j.ccc.2021.05.006.

Authors

Heather M Giannini¹, Nuala J Meyer²

Affiliations

¹ University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, 3400 Spruce Street, 5038 Gates Building, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
² University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, 3400 Spruce Street, 5038 Gates Building, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Electronic address: nuala.meyer@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.

PMID: 34548135
DOI: 10.1016/j.ccc.2021.05.006

Abstract

Clinical risk factors alone fail to fully explain acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) risk or ARDS death, suggesting that individual risk factors contribute. The goals of genomic ARDS studies include better mechanistic understanding, identifying dysregulated pathways that may be amenable to pharmacologic targeting, using genomic causal inference techniques to find measurable traits with meaning, and deconvoluting ARDS heterogeneity by proving reproducible subpopulations that may share a unique biology. This article discusses the latest advances in ARDS genomics, provides historical perspective, and highlights some of the ways that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is accelerating genomic ARDS research.

Keywords: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS); Genetic association; Genome-wide association study; RNA sequencing.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Humans
Respiratory Distress Syndrome* / genetics
Respiratory Distress Syndrome* / therapy
Risk Factors
SARS-CoV-2

Grants and funding

K24 HL155804/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States