A plant -based agent inhibits a protein which, among other things, is responsible for the dreaded thickening of the bronchial wall.
Asthma drugs often lose their effectiveness over time and do not prevent the bronchial tissue from thickening. Researchers from Ruhr Bochum University, Bonn University and Bonn University Hospital (Germany, have successfully tested an agent based on plants that fights this dreaded remodeling process. Derived from Coralberry Ardia Crenata, the agent inhibits a specific protein, thus ensuring that fewer collagen accumulate. Molecular therapy on July 23, 2025.
Patients with bronchial asthma suffer from shortness of breath caused by tightened respiratory tract.
Anti-inflammatory drugs are generally given to treat this, although it is not entirely clear how inflammation and constriction are correlated. These drugs often stop working at a certain point. “”
Professor Daniela Wenzel, chief, department of physiology of systems, Faculty of Medicine, Bochum of Ruhr University
In addition, patients with asthma often experience thickening of the bronchial tissue due to the accumulation of collagen. Caliciform cells are also increasing in numbers, producing mucus and making breathing even more difficult. Currently, there is no drug to counter these changes.
Directly targeting the protein
The agent derived from Ardisia crenata prevented the remodeling of bronchial in the study. It links to a specific protein – the GQ protein – and therefore inhibits it directly. “Other drugs often target GQ protein receptors, but there are many types of receptors,” said Jennifer Dietrich, the main study of the study. “So we decided to adopt a different approach and directly target the protein. »»
By using a chronic bronchial asthma mouse model, the researchers tested the agent for five weeks, during which he was administered directly in the lungs in the form of liquid. “We could see that the reshaping decreased, the less the collagen accumulated and fewer cup cells producing mucus were present in the epithelial layer of the bronchial tissue,” explains Dietrich. Tests on human collagen producing cells have revealed that they developed more slowly in the presence of the agent, even when stimulated by growth factors associated with asthma. Other tests on pulmonary cells producing human mucus have shown that the agent reduced the secretion and production of mucus. These results were reproduced in experiments with pulmonary sections of people who died of asthma.
A promising candidate for future treatment
“We know in previous studies that the agent also prevents the extreme constriction of the bronchi,” explains Daniela Wenzel. “This makes him a very promising candidate for future treatments on asthma. Once the agent binds to the GQ protein, he remains active for several days, much longer than the other agents who have been tested.
Cooperation partners
Teams at Ruhr Bochum University, Bonn University and the Bonn University Hospital were joined in the study by researchers at Rutgers University in the United States.
Funding
The work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (for 2372, project number 273251628, WE4461 / 2-1 and 2, FL-276 / 8-1 and 2).
