Atopic asthmatic (AA) subjects in this cohort had mild well-controlled disease, significantly higher serum total IgE, blood and sputum eosinophil cell counts, and were more likely to report a history of allergic rhinitis compared to atopic non-asthmatics (ANAs) and non-atopic healthy control (HC) subjects (Table 1 and Additional file 1 Table S1). The gene discussed is IGHE; the disease is allergic rhinitis.