UIC Researchers Test Effects of Vitamin D on Asthma Severity – NEWS.GNOM.ES (press release)

UIC Researchers Test Effects of Vitamin D on Asthma Severity
NEWS.GNOM.ES (press release)
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are recruiting volunteers with asthma for a study of whether taking vitamin D can make asthma medication more effective. The study is called VIDA (Vitamin D add-on therapy enhances corticosteroid

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Researchers Trying to Understand How Biofeedback Helps Asthma Patients – HealthCanal.com

Researchers Trying to Understand How Biofeedback Helps Asthma Patients
HealthCanal.com
National Jewish Health researchers are delving into the biology of biofeedback to understand how it helps asthma patients and what role it could play in reducing medication use for the chronic lung disease. In a study funded by the National Institutes

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Columbia University Medical Center Launches Asthma Study

Researchers at the Columbia University Medical Center are trying to help New Yorkers breathe easier.

The Columbia Daily Spectator is reporting that researchers are conducting a three-year study which includes going into New York City homes to find and reduce allergens in order to measure the effects on asthma rates, which are especially high in northern Manhattan. According to the researchers at CUMC, that is partially due to the many allergens—like cockroach, mice, and dust mites—that are common in the types of buildings found uptown.

Researchers are currently visiting participating residents, identifying and testing allergens, and teaching those residents how to keep their homes healthier. They often instruct families how to clean in a way that removes allergens, for example.

“The counseling part makes a big difference,” Sumit Narula, one of the project’s researchers, said. “They’re basic things, but they actually start doing them.”

Narula said that they have been giving the participants with financial issues cleaning supplies and vacuums for free.

The project is one of the first preventative healthcare studies funded by the federal stimulus bill and focuses on reducing asthma before people even develop symptoms.

“It’s going to improve patient productivity, but also save the government money,” Narula said. “Sadly, our healthcare system has gone where it’s so overwhelmed that especially things like asthma … don’t get as much attention.”

Studies by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene have shown that Harlem has some of the highest rates of asthma-related hospitalizations and emergency room visits in the city, particularly among lower-income families.

Last year, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development tried to address this problem more broadly with its Alternative Enforcement Program, which identified over 200 residential buildings where residents are “forced to live in substandard and hazardous conditions.”

Narula’s approach is more personal. He said that for some of the participants, this study was the first time they had spoken with a doctor one-on-one about their asthma or gotten the right dosages of medication.

Because of those benefits, residents have met the project with enthusiasm, researchers said.

“Anything that improves health is beneficial for everyone,” Arturo Montoya, a fourth-year School of Engineering and Applied Science doctoral student, said.

Over the course of the study, the researchers hope to screen 500 to 600 patients, but they have still struggled to find enough subjects to volunteer their time and homes.

Most of the recruitment has been done through the asthma clinics run by Columbia, at community health fairs, and through newspapers and fliers.

The study’s results are not ready for evaluation, but those involved said that they feel they are providing an essential service—opportunities for better health, especially for parents.

“They’re very happy that they can help their children feel better,” Narula said.

Molecular Pathway, Asthma Inflammation and Future Treatment Options

Researchers Identify Molecular Pathway that leads to Inflammation in Asthma

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have identified a molecular pathway that helps explain how an enzyme elevated in asthma patients can lead to increased mucus production and inflammation that is characteristic of the lung condition. Their findings, reported online in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveal unique interactions between biological molecules that could be targeted to develop new asthma treatments.

An enzyme called epithelial 15-lipoxygenase 1 (15LO1) metabolizes fatty acids to produce an eicosanoid known as 15 hydroxyeicosaetetranoic acid (15 HETE) and is elevated in the cells that line the lungs of asthma patients, explained Sally E. Wenzel, M.D., professor of medicine, Pitt School of Medicine, and director of the Asthma Institute at UPMC and Pitt School of Medicine. Her team showed in 2009 that the enzyme plays a role in mucus production.

“In this project, we found out 15 HETE is conjugated to a common phospholipid,” she said. “That complex, called 15HETE-PE, and 15LO1 behave as signaling molecules that appear to have a powerful influence on airway inflammation.”

By examining lung cells obtained by bronchoscopy from 65 people with asthma, the researchers found that both 15LO1 and 15HETE-PE displace an inhibitory protein called PEBP1 from its bond with another protein called Raf-1, which when freed can lead to activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase(ERK). Activated ERK is commonly observed in the epithelial, or lung lining, cells in asthma, but until now the reason for that was not understood.

“This is an important study as it directly explores the important role of 15-lipoxygenase 1 in the airway epithelial cells of patients with asthma, which immediately establishes the relevance to human disease,” said Mark T. Gladwin, M.D., chief, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, UPSOM.

Other experiments showed that knocking down 15LO1 decreased the dissociation of Raf-1 from PEBP1, which in turn reduced ERK activation. The pathway ultimately influences the production of factors involved in inflammation and mucus production.

“These results show us on both a molecular and mechanistic level and as mirrored by fresh cells from the patients themselves that the epithelial cells of people with asthma are very different from those that don’t have it,” Dr. Wenzel said. “It also gives us a potential treatment strategy: If we can prevent Raf-1 displacement, we might have a way of stopping the downstream consequences that lead to asthma.”

Co-authors include Jinming Zhao, Ph.D., Silvana Balzar, M.D., Claudette M. St. Croix, Ph.D., and John B. Trudeau, B.S., of UPSOM and the Asthma Institute; and Valerie B. O’Donnell Ph.D., of Cardiff University, United Kingdom. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association.

Contact: Anita Srikameswaran
SrikamAV@upmc.edu
412-578-9193
University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences
Pitt team finds molecular pathway that leads to inflammation in asthma
75.26.195.212

Researchers find potential new treatment for asthma sufferers – The Cherokeean Herald

Researchers find potential new treatment for asthma sufferers
The Cherokeean Herald
4, 2011) – For asthma patients who continue to suffer from symptoms even after taking their inhaled steroids, a new drug called lebrikizumab may be a treatment option, and a simple blood test can determine the effectiveness of the drug, according to a
Lebrikizumab Ups Lung Function in Adults With AsthmaDoctors Lounge
IL-13 Blocker Helps Asthma ControlMedPage Today
Experimental Drug Promising Against Tough-to-Treat AsthmaU.S. News & World Report
Fox Business –Reuters –FierceBiotech
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