Asthma: an arginine-driven metabolic disorder?

I came across an interesting piece of study where researchers discovered a number of metabolic links between asthma and obesity. The researchers also alluded to an old saying “we are what we eat” which caught my attention.
In this study the researchers made an interesting discovery. They found that the mitochondria of people with asthma are less reliant on glycolysis.

Source==> By Weiling Xu, MD, and Serpil Erzurum, MD (Ultrastructure of mitochondria in asthma airway epithelium)
For those who aren’t familiar with glycolysis, it’s basically how cells within our body obtain energy. In a nutshell, glycolysis is the process used to break down glucose to get energy that the cells use to carry out their day to day function. It is the preferred energy source in the body.

The study highlighted that epidemiological studies show a close link between asthma and obesity without providing concluding evidence that it was the cause. It is from this basis that their team have been trying to elucidate the possible asthma-metabolism link.
The study was carried out comparing the mitochondrial function in platelets of asthmatics vs healthy individuals. They discovered that the mitochondria of asthmatic patients show decreased reliance on glycolysis and greater tricarboxylic acid (TCA) activity, suggesting that oxidative phosphorylation is more efficient in asthmatic individuals.

Source==> By Weiling Xu, MD, and Serpil Erzurum, MD (Different mitochondria are shown by arrowheads. B: close-up of A, and C: close-up of B. N, nucleus. All scale bars: 1 μm.)

For those who aren’t familiar with the TCA, it’s another process that the cells within the body can use to obtain energy.
They identified that the alteration in mitochondrial function in asthmatics may be the result of increased expression of type II arginase (ARG2). ARG2 functions to break down arginine to ornithine. This ornithine then goes through several transamination reactions and enter into TCA cycle where it is used to obtain energy. Greater levels of ARG2 and arginine flux in asthma speeds up the TCA cycle and the cellular respiration in these patients.
The study also showed that the same ARG2 gene variants were some of the earliest single nucleotide polymorphism discovered in genome-wide association studies of asthma. It is important to highlight here that an association doesn’t mean cause but gives the researchers clues as the development process of the disease. Alterations in ARG2 gene were also linked to severity of asthma experienced by these patients.

This research entertains an interesting question, Asthma: an arginine-driven metabolic disorder? An while this could be seen as pure speculation, drug development and diet becomes a cornerstone to answering that very question. Probably obesity isn't as bad as we think and our society focus on being lean may be adding to the number of asthmatics. It important to approach these research with an open mind because we still know very little about our body

              Sources

https://consultqd.clevelandclinic.org/2016/09/pathobiological-links-discovered-asthma-metabolism/?utm_campaign=qd+tweets&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=160927+asthma+metabolism&dynid=twitter--qd+tweets--social--social--160927+asthma+metabolism

Upvote, Resteem and follow @daudimitch