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Finding may lead to better asthma treatment

Sunday, January 11, 2004 Posted: 1:40 PM EST (1840 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Researchers have found a compound that blocks the

production of excessive mucus, which could point the way to better

treatments for asthma, chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis and other

diseases.

Mucus, a thick fluid produced by mucus membranes, moistens and protects

areas such as the digestive and nasal canals. Excess production of

mucus in diseases such as asthma can block airways.

Scientists working with asthmatic mice found that excess mucus

production could be sharply reduced or eliminated using a peptide

called MANS. It blocks the protein that causes the excess secretion.

The findings of the research team, led by B. Adler of North

Carolina State University, are reported in the February issue of the

journal Nature Medicine. Their paper was published Sunday in the

journal's online issue.

" These findings could be very important as far as providing direction

to eventually lead to therapeutic treatment " of certain respiratory

diseases, Adler said in an e-mail interview.

He said it could take time before such a treatment would be ready for

testing in people.

Dr. Philip S. Norman, an asthma expert at s Hopkins University in

Baltimore, noted that excess mucus is a major problem in asthma and

that finding a safe way to limit it would be a help toward treatment.

It would not be a cure, however, because other symptoms of asthma

occur, said Norman, who was not part of the research team.

No side effects were noted in the mice, Adler said, but they were

treated for less than an hour. Longer-term studies would be needed to

assess the safety of the compound, he said.

Nevertheless, depending on the dose, the chemical was effective in

reducing excess mucus production in different types of mice.

In one group, excess mucus was reduced by 80 percent or more, with

larger doses cutting the mucus to below normal flows.

In a different strain of mice, excess mucus was cut by between 50

percent and 100 percent, depending on dosage. A third group, using a

different chemical to induce the allergy, saw a reduction in excess

mucus by between 20 percent and 90 percent as doses were increased.

The researchers found that mucus production requires a protein called

myristoylated, alanine-rich C-kinase substrate, or MARCKS.

In lab tests, they found that an amino acid fragment called

myristoylated N-terminal sequence, or MANS, reduces mucus flow,

possibly by inhibiting the attachment of MARCKS to membrane cells.

They then turned to the mouse experiments to see if the same would

result would occur.

In addition to the researchers at North Carolina State, the team

includes scientists at the Pasteur Institute, Paris; the University of

Sao o, Brazil; and the School of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover,

Germany.

Copyright 2004 The A