Genetic variation in BDNF is associated with allergic asthma and allergic rhinitis in an ethnic Chinese population in Singapore

► We performed a genetic association study of BDNF SNPs to asthma and AR in a large population size of 1893 ethnic Chinese. ► The study with 795 AR cases, 718 asthma cases and 717 no allergy controls was well designed at 98% power for both AR and asthma. ► There was a positive association identified even after correcting for multiple testing which confirmed its role in allergy. ► Negative results for association by Szczepankiewicz et al., (2008) and Hoffjan et al., (2009) were probably due to insufficient power. ► Our study reemphasizes the focus of studying genetic variants in this gene in relation to allergic phenotypes in other populations as well.