Asthmatics' Urine Could Aid Development of More Effective Treatments

Findings in a new study led by researchers from Edith Cowan University (ECU) and the Karolinska Institute show that the urine biochemistry of people with severe asthma may guide the development of more effective treatments.

Asthma Inhaler

The research revealed that people suffering from serious asthma share a distinct biochemical profile, which is detectable in their urines. This biochemical profile is different from that of healthy individuals or people with mild-to-moderate asthma cases.

Scientists found that the amount of a specific metabolite known as carnitines is reduced in severe asthmatics.

The study appeared in the European Respiratory Journal.

Need for improvement

Asthma is said to be severe when attacks refuse to abate despite the use of standard treatments or multiple interventions. Its symptoms are more intense and last for longer periods, compared to regular asthma. This form is more life-threatening.

It is estimated that 262 million people around the world suffer from asthma. Available treatments are not helpful enough for a good number of these patients. Researchers say there is, therefore, an urgent need for more helpful therapies.

“To identify and develop new treatment options, we first need to better understand the underlying mechanisms of the disease,” stated study leader Dr. Stacey Reinke, who was from the Centre for Integrative Metabolomics and Computational Biology at ECU.

According to researchers, an assessment of the chemical profile or “metabolome” of the body can serve as a guide. This can provide helpful information about the physiological state of a person as well as disease processes.

Urine could hold the key

It is usually tricky and invasive to probe the state of the lungs. However, the organs are well supplied with blood vessels, thereby making it possible to probe their state using urine.

Biological changes that are occurring in the lungs can reflect in the bloodstream and so be detectable in the urine, explained Dr. Reinke.

Therefore, the research team in this study examined urine samples from over 600 subjects. These people – from 11 countries – are part of the Europe-wide U-BIOPRED study, which aims at identifying and better working out severe asthma sub-types.

Dr. Reinke and her colleagues found that carnitine levels were lower in severe asthmatics. Analyses also showed that there was reduced carnitine metabolism in people with severe asthma.

Carnitine is critical for cellular energy production by helping to carry fatty acids into cells for conversion to energy. It also plays a key role in immune responses.

These findings could aid in the development of more effective treatments for asthmatics.

“In this case, we were able to use the urinary metabolome of asthmatics to identify fundamental differences in energy metabolism that may represent a target for new interventions in asthma control,” said Dr. Reinke.

The researchers noted that these are preliminary findings, however. They plan to continue to study carnitine metabolism as regards how it can be targeted by a novel treatment.

This research was co-led by Dr. Craig Wheelock from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute.