These are completely new biomarkers that could be used to measure the severity of asthma and monitor the effectiveness of treatments.
A team from Case Western Reserve University, in the United States, has identified new inflammatory molecules that could revolutionize the way asthma and other inflammatory diseases are treated.
The study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, challenges the decades-accepted theory about the causes of inflammation in the airways. Until now, it was believed that the main culprits were leukotrienes, molecules released by white blood cells in response to allergens or airway irritation. These compounds trigger a chain reaction that causes the bronchi to narrow, leading to the respiratory difficulty typical of asthma. Medicines like Singulair were created precisely to block this action.
Now, researchers led by Robert Salomonprofessor of Chemistry and Ophthalmology, discovered similar molecules — which they dubbed “pseudo-leukotrienes” — produced by an entirely different chemical process, involving free radicals instead of enzymes. They appear to be, says Salomon, “the true protagonists of inflammation associated with asthma”.
Free radicals oxidize the body’s fats in an uncontrolled way, explains the researcher, cited by . People with asthma may have a deficiency in enzymes and antioxidants that normally limit this oxidation.
The discovery paves the way for therapies that stop or moderate the oxidative process, instead of limiting themselves to blocking the affected receptors as current medications do.
Scientists analyzed urine samples from patients with mild and severe asthma, comparing them with those from healthy people. The results were clear: asthmatics had four to five times more pseudo-leukotrienes, and the concentration increased with the severity of the disease. The compounds are completely new biomarkers that can be used to measure the severity of asthma and monitor the effectiveness of treatments.
The team now intends to investigate the role of these molecules in other respiratory diseases, such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), childhood bronchiolitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
