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Letter

Nature Genetics 38, 441–446 (1 April 2006) | doi:10.1038/ng1767

Common loss-of-function variants of the epidermal barrier protein filaggrin are a major predisposing factor for atopic dermatitis

Colin N A Palmer , Alan D Irvine , Ana Terron-Kwiatkowski , Yiwei Zhao , Haihui Liao , Simon P Lee , David R Goudie , Aileen Sandilands , Linda E Campbell , Frances J D Smith , Gr|[aacute]|inne M O'Regan , Rosemarie M Watson , Jo E Cecil , Sherri J Bale , John G Compton , John J DiGiovanna , Philip Fleckman , Sue Lewis-Jones , Gehan Arseculeratne , Ann Sergeant , Colin S Munro , Brahim El Houate , Ken McElreavey , Liselotte B Halkjaer , Hans Bisgaard , Somnath Mukhopadhyay & W H Irwin McLean

Atopic disease, including atopic dermatitis (eczema), allergy and asthma, has increased in frequency in recent decades and now affects |[sim]|20% of the population in the developed world. Twin and family studies have shown that predisposition to atopic disease is highly heritable.