The high heritability and comorbidity between allergic rhinitis and asthma suggest common etiologies and genetic susceptibility loci. Among the most robust signals for asthma is the chromosomal locus 17q21.
1 Studies that examined whether this strong asthma locus is also associated with allergic rhinitis have yielded conflicting results. A recent large genome-wide association study (GWAS)
2 and a candidate gene study
3 identified associations between genetic variants at the 17q21 locus and allergic rhinitis, in contrast to null findings in previous GWASs on allergic rhinitis
4,5 and self-reported allergy.