Polynucleotides and polypeptides linked to a disease or condition

A method for diagnosing a higher risk of developing a fibrotic condition in a patient, wherein said fibrotic condition is other than lung fibrosis, comprising detecting in a biological sample obtained from said patient a target molecule comprising an allele or an expression product thereof, wherein said allele is selected from an allele of a TGF-(beta) gene and an allele of a gene belonging to the same regulatory or biosynthetic pathway as a TGF-(beta) gene, wherein said allele correlates with said higher risk.

A method for diagnosing a lower risk of developing a fibrotic condition in a patient, wherein said fibrotic condition is other than lung fibrosis, comprising detecting in a biological sample obtained from said patient a target molecule comprising an allele or an expression product thereof, wherein said allele is selected from an allele of a TGF-(beta) gene and an allele of a gene belonging to the same regulatory or biosynthetic pathway as a TGF-(beta) gene, wherein said allele correlates with said lower risk.

The method of claim 39, wherein said AT allele comprises a polymorphism within its promoter region.

A method for diagnosing a higher risk of developing a fibrotic condition in a patient, wherein said fibrotic condition is other that lung fibrosis, comprising detecting in a biological sample obtained from said patient at least two target molecules selected from different alleles of a TGF-(beta) gene or expression products thereof, and different alleles of a gene belonging to the same regulatory or biosynthetic pathway as a TGF-(beta) gene or expression products thereof, wherein each of said different alleles correlates with said higher risk.

A method for diagnosing a lower risk of developing a fibrotic condition in a patient, wherein said fibrotic condition is other that lung fibrosis, comprising detecting in a biological sample obtained from said patient at least two target molecules selected from different alleles of a TGF-(beta) gene or expression products thereof, and different alleles of a gene belonging to the same regulatory or biosynthetic pathway as a TGF-(beta) gene or expression products thereof, wherein each of said different alleles correlates with said lower risk.

A method for diagnosing an intermediate risk of developing a fibrotic condition in a patient, wherein said fibrotic condition is other than lung fibrosis, comprising detecting in a biological sample obtained from said patient at least two target molecules selected from different alleles of a TGF-(beta) gene or expression products thereof, and different alleles of a gene belonging to the same regulatory or biosynthetic pathway as a TGF-(beta) gene or expression products thereof, wherein at least one of said different alleles correlates with a higher risk of developing said condition and wherein at least one other of said different alleles correlates with a lower risk of developing said condition.

A method for treating or preventing a fibrotic condition, comprising administering to a patient in need of such treatment an effective amount of an agent, which modulates the level and/or functional activity of an expression product of an allele selected from an allele of a TGF-(beta) gene and an allele of a gene belonging to the same regulatory or biosynthetic pathway as a TGF-(beta) gene, wherein said agent has been identified by a screening process comprising:

• contacting a preparation comprising said expression product or a fragment of said expression product or a genetic sequence that modulates the expression of said allele with a test agent;
• and
• detecting a change in the level and/or functional activity of said expression product or said fragment, which is indicative of an agent that is capable of effecting said modulation.