UTMB Study could lead to new therapies for asthma, COPD
"Using cell culture and laboratory mouse experiments, the researchers showed that the enzyme, aldose reductase, is essential to a process known as goblet cell metaplasia that is seen in both asthma and COPD. In goblet cell metaplasia, exposure to allergens such as pollen, mold and dust mites initiates a series of biochemical reactions that causes the cells that line the air passages of the lungs to change from their normal state into so-called "goblet cells," which produce substantial amounts of excess mucus. Healthy individuals' lungs contain very few goblet cells, but patients who die from asthma — an estimated 5,000 people annually — have significantly higher numbers of these cells. The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston just released information on a discovery that may lead to new therapies for asthma and COPD sufferers. This is really great news.
"Aldose reductase is key to a whole range of inflammation
disorders, so it comes as no surprise that it should be crucial to the
inflammatory processes that drive disease in asthma and COPD," said UTMB
Health biochemistry and molecular biology professor Satish Srivastava,
senior author of the paper. "The discovery that aldose reductase
regulates mucus production and goblet cell metaplasia makes inhibition
of this enzyme an attractive therapeutic option to reduce mucus-related
airway obstructive diseases — and for the first time gives us a real
chance to alter the course of the underlying disease in asthma and
COPD."
You can read the complete article here.
One thing it mentions is the possibility that new therapies may provide an alternative to steroid treatment for patients which I know many of our clients would love. So many parents are concerned about the effects long term steroid use will have on their children.
Wishing you the best of health
Mike Krause
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