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The following is a summary of “Shared genetic investigation of asthma and blood eosinophils in relation to chronic rhinosinusitis,” published in the March 2025 issue of Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology by Li et al. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess genetic links between asthma, blood eosinophils, and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). 

They reviewed data from patients with CRS (N = 1,255) and healthy controls (N = 1,032) to assess clinical associations. Genetic data from UK Biobank (N = 173,480), Trans-National Asthma Genetic Consortium (N = 127,669), and FinnGen (CRS: N = 272,922; nasal polyps: N = 264,107) were analyzed using linkage disequilibrium score regression, Mendelian randomization (MR), and Bayesian co-localization to detect genetic associations, assess causality, and identify shared genetic signals. 

The results showed that blood eosinophil count, blood eosinophil percentages, and asthma had positive and causal genetic correlations with CRS (q < 0.0001) and CRSwNP (q < 0.0001) in both observational and genetic analyses. Colocalization analysis identified 4 shared loci among asthma, CRS, and CRSwNP; 7 among blood eosinophil count, CRS, and CRSwNP; 2 unique to blood eosinophil count and CRS; and 3 unique to blood eosinophil count and CRSwNP. 

Investigators contributed to understanding CRS etiology and provided insights for intervention and treatment targets for CRS comorbid with asthma or high blood eosinophil levels. 

Source: aacijournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13223-025-00956-5