Natural relaxant ‘may cure asthma’
Published: May 26, 2005
A natural relaxant that opens the airways may offer a new treatment for asthma, researchers have said.
The compound, nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), is deficient in people with the condition.
Scientists in the United States found that mice with raised GSNO levels were much less susceptible to asthma than normal animals.
Researcher Dr Jonathan Stamler, from Duke University Medical Centre in Durham, said: “In thinking about asthma, scientists have generally focused on processes that actively constrict airways or lead to inflammation, making it difficult to get air in or out.
“We haven’t paid much attention to how airways are normally kept open. Our findings suggest the disease may stem from a deficit in the natural bronchodilator that normally relaxes airways.”
Drugs that increase GSNO levels could offer a new approach to treating the airway obstruction in asthma, the researchers reported in the journal Science.
Dr Loretta Que, another member of the team, said: “The mice closely resemble the human condition, which makes this particularly exciting as a potential new approach toward asthma therapy.”
GSNO is a molecule in the nitric oxide (NO) family. Previous research has suggested that NO might play a role in regulating the dilation of the airways.
The exhaled breath of asthma patients contains elevated levels of nitric oxide.
Recent evidence from the Duke group indicated that a family of NO-carrying molecules called S-nitrosothiols (SNOs) might be necessary for nitric oxide to function throughout the body.
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