Overweight People More
Likely To Have Asthma - Obesity Linked to Lung Ailment - Australian
Study Found Protein That Triggers Attacks
July 14th 2006
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Australian researchers at Sydney's Garvan Institute believe there is a
link between obesity and asthma and speculate that this is the reason
why asthma is on the increase in Western countries. They have found a
fatty acid binding protein called aP2 in the lungs of asthma patients.
This protein has already been known for its role in diabetes and
obesity. Now they know it is present in the lungs where it is crucial
in controlling inflammation in asthma.
There are various triggers, such as dust mites and pollen that bring on
asthma attacks. The scientists believe that high levels of aP2 in human
lung cells trick the body into thinking it is undergoing an asthma
attack. The attack is characterized by inflammation of the airways, a
tightening of the surrounding muscles, and excess mucus production.
The scientists used a technique called gene profiling to discover the
genes that regulate the airway inflammation and found very high levels
of aP2 in human lung cells. One of the researchers, Bennett Shum, said
“We were really surprised to find aP2 in the lung. So we then looked at
what would happen when we removed this gene in mouse models: mice
without aP2 are protected from asthma attacks".
Asthma project leader, Michael Rolph says “There's up to three times the
risk of being asthmatic if you are obese: the more obese, the greater
the risk. We know that obese asthmatics who lose weight have large
improvements in their asthma."
Shum believes this may lead to a treatment for asthma. "These findings
suggest that blocking aP2 function is a novel approach for asthma
treatment and other inflammatory lung diseases," he said.
Dan Wilson
Best Syndication
Books on Allergy
Keywords and misspellings: asma astma alergy ezema
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