Hawcutt DB, et al. - As corticosteroid therapy leads to adrenal suppression (a serious adverse effect), researchers sought for the genetic variants affecting susceptibility to corticosteroid-induced adrenal suppression. Two validation cohorts, one comprising children with asthma (from PASS study) and the other consisting of adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) who were recruited from two UK centres were included in the Pharmacogenomics of Adrenal Suppression in COPD (PASIC) study. They performed a case-control genome-wide association study with the control subset augmented by Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium 2 (WTCCC2) participants. Findings suggested an increase in the risk of adrenal suppression among children and adults who use corticosteroids to treat asthma and COPD, respectively, in association with genetic variation in the PDGFD gene locus.