Interesting new study on asthma

[Guest guest]

I saw an interesting article about asthma yesterday. This was from

a study conducted at NC State University (my alma mater) I found

this on alt.support.asthma.

http://www.nature.com/nsu/040105/040105-15.html

Easy breathing

Anti-mucus molecule may help asthma sufferers.

12 January 2004

HELEN R. PILCHER

More mucus means a higher risk of death.

Biologists have hit upon a molecule that can prevent the airways of

asthmatic mice from clogging up. The finding may help human sufferers

of respiratory diseases.

More than 100 million people worldwide suffer from asthma. They

experience recurrent attacks of wheezing and breathlessness as their

airways narrow and secrete large amounts of mucus.

Every year some 180,000 people die from asthma, and more mucus means

a

higher risk of mortality, notes Adler, who studies

respiratory

diseases at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Sputum can

damage the airway lining, making patients more susceptible to

bacterial infection and respiratory failure.

Adler's team made a molecule, called MANS peptide, and tested it on

mice that suffer from asthma-like symptoms - when the rodents are

exposed to an allergen, their airways swell and mucus production

rockets fivefold. A single dose of the peptide drug given 15 minutes

before an induced asthma attack prevented the build-up of mucus1.

" The peptide is potentially useful in the clinic, " says Joe ,

head of pulmonary and critical-care medicine at the s Hopkins

University in Baltimore, land. Asthmatics already use drugs that

help relax the airways, but there are no medications for reducing

mucus. " This would complement, not replace standard therapies, " he

says.

The drug may also help those with cystic fibrosis and the smokers'

disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, who also suffer from

sputum-related breathing difficulties.

Mucus explosion

In the mouse model, the MANS peptide targets mucus-making cells found

in the airway lining, but it may also affect other cell types,

cautions . This could produce unwanted and as yet unknown side

effects, so tests are needed to check the molecule's safety.

The treatment stops the secretion of mucus, not its production. This

means that the sticky substance may build up inside cells and

eventually push them to bursting point, cautions Duncan from

Imperial College, London, who studies respiratory disorders. This

could trigger a mass release of mucus, which could obstruct the

airways.

Alternatively, because the cells are no longer secreting mucus, they

may simply shrivel and disappear, counters . Longer-term

studies

will be needed to find out.

1. Singer, M. et al. A MARCKS-related peptide blocks mucus

hypersecretion in a mouse model of asthma. Nature Medicine,

doi:10.1038/nm983, (2004). |Article|

Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2004