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Inhalation April 2018 9 asthma progression. They also demonstrated that a variant of the gene protects against such bio- chemical activity, reducing asthma susceptibility. Previous studies have identified the 17q21 locus, a genetic region significantly associ- ated with asthma risk, which con- t a i n s a t l e a s t s i x g e n e s . M o s t researchers, including Lu and col- l e a g u e s , e x p e c t e d t h e g e n e ORMDL3 would be linked to asthma risk. However, the study implicated a neighboring gene, GSDMB. e researchers studied DNA samples from more than 50,000 adult asthma patients par- ticipating in the Genetic Epidemi- ology Research in Adult Health and Aging cohort. eir findings have important implications for poten- tial asthma therapies that target GSDMB. In individuals with an a p p r o p r i a t e g e n e t i c p r o f i l e , GSDMB could be suppressed, pre- venting airway epithelial pyroptosis and, ultimately, lowering asthma risk. The study was published online in e Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. from 2007. Because prescription medications and office-based visits comprise the majority of asthma care costs, the researchers recom- mended healthcare stakeholders and providers prioritize increasing guideline-based care and self-man- agement education to reduce costs and unnecessary resource use. Gene linked with lower asthma risk identified CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHU- SETTS—e Harvard T.H. Chan S c h o o l o f P u b l i c H e a l t h h a s announced identification of a gene associated with lower asthma risk and its role in the disease's progres- sion. Quan Lu, an Associate Profes- sor of Environmental Genetics and Pathophysiology, lead author and research associate Ronald Pangani- ban and colleagues found a link between the gene GSDMB (gas- dermin B) and asthma when they discovered it is highly expressed in airway epithelial cells. When acti- vated, it induces cell pyroptosis, a form of cell death linked to inflam- mation that may contribute to CDC urges improved asthma care as US costs increase to $81.9B ATLANTA, GEORGIA—RevCy- cleIntelligence reported that the annual costs of asthma care, includ- ing medical expenses, absenteeism and mortality, cost the United States economy $81.9 billion in 2013, according to researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, the study published in the Annals of the American oracic Society noted that value may be significantly underestimated because the analysis only included individuals who received treatment during the CDC study. Also, the estimate did not include non-medical costs, such as transportation, appointment wait time, time lost at work because of illness and intangible suffering costs. e CDC data showed that approximately one in 12 people in the US have asthma but that num- ber has been increasing, along with the disease's economic burden. e 2013 cost was nearly $26 billion more than the asthma cost estimate