Targeting a key enzyme associated with heart disease could offer a new way to treat asthma, which affects billions of people worldwide, including 8.5% of the U.S. population.
The enzyme CaMKII is known to play a role in the oxidation of heart muscle cells, which can lead to heart disease and heart attacks. Researchers from the University of Iowa hypothesized that the same enzyme may also affect oxidation in the respiratory system, which triggers asthmatic symptoms.
Investigators tried to block the enzyme in the airway lining cells. Mice with the blocked enzyme had less oxidized CaMKII and showed no airway muscle constriction or asthma symptoms. Conversely, mice without the blocked enzyme showed high "oxidative stress"--an increase in oxidized enzymes in the epithelial cells that causes a decrease in antioxidant defense mechanisms. Mice without the blocked enzyme also experienced a constricted airway and symptoms of asthma.
"[The study] suggests that these airway lining cells are really important for asthma, and they're important because of the oxidative properties of CaMKII," said study co-author Mark Anderson, professor and chair in internal medicine at UI's Carver College of Medicine, in a statement. "Here may be a new pathway to treat asthma."
The findings, published July 24 in the journal Science Translational Medicine, could help scientists develop a drug that targets the CaMKII enzyme, the researchers say. Current asthma treatment options consist mostly of steroids, which can have harmful side effects.
- read the news release
- here's the study abstract