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Updated: May 15, 2026

Dual Test Gas Pulmonary Diffusing Capacity Measurement During Exercise in Humans Using the Single-Breath Method
Published on: February 2, 2024
Shared and distinct genetic influences among different measures of pulmonary function
Terrie Vasilopoulos1, Michael D Grant, Carol E Franz
1Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Avenue, MC 3077 CNPRU, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. terriev@uchicago.edu
Abstract:
We examined shared and distinct genetic influences among standard measures of pulmonary functions: ratio of forced expiratory volume at 1 s to forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) and percent predicted values for forced expiratory volume at 1 s (FEV1%p), forced expiratory flow (FEFmax%p), and maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV%p) in 978-1,048 middle-aged (mean age = 55 years) male-male twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging. A common latent factor (h(2) = 0.30) accounted for the correlations among these measures. This factor accounted for 54-81 % of the heritability of FEV1%p, FEFmax%p and MVV%p, but only explained 16 % of the heritability of FEV1/FVC. The remaining heritability of FEV1/FVC was explained by genetic influences independent of the common factor. Our findings suggest that while a common latent phenotype accounts for the relationships among different pulmonary function measures, the majority of genetic influences underlying FEV1/FVC--an index of pulmonary obstruction--are distinct from those underlying other pulmonary function measures.
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