The associations we report relate to the general population but were of comparable magnitude after the exclusion of documented cases of asthma or COPD (data not shown). Although pulmonary function is an important predictor of morbidity and mortality per se, it will be important to investigate, in appropriately powered studies, whether the risk alleles in the genes identified in this study act as independent susceptibility markers for COPD or influence the development of airway obstruction in other diseases, such as asthma.
