Choline, An Alternative Therapy For Asthma

Main Category: Respiratory / Asthma
Also Included In: Allergy;  Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry;  Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 28 Sep 2007 - 5:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

The prevalence of asthma has increased worldwide and current therapies for the disease, such as glucocorticoids, are limited in their usefulness, due to potential side effects.
Bhanu Pratap Singh (Allergy and Immunology Section, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi, India) and his team examined the anti-inflammatory effects of choline via oral or intranasal routes in mice model of allergic asthma.

Choline treatment inhibits the development of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and eosinophilic inflammation in the lungs. This reduction of AHR is accompanied by a reduction in immunoglobulin E antibody (IgE) and other inflammatory parameters like type 2 T-helper cell (Th2) cytokines, in a manner comparable with current therapy of asthma. Choline treatment also downregulates mucus production and prevents airway obstruction.

Choline is an organic compound, an essential nutrient usually grouped within the Vitamin B complex. This natural amine is found in the lipids that make up cell membranes and in the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.
Increased plasma levels of lysophosphatidyl choline, which play an important role in pathogenesis, were reported in asthmatics. Choline supplementation increases membrane phosphatidyl choline and thereby decreases the mediator release from human basophils.

The results of the present study are encouraging, as choline therapy may enable to substitute or reduce the dosage and side effects of steroid therapy in asthma. However, further studies are required with pre-clinical models of chronic allergic airway disease and subsequent investigations in asthmatics.

The European Respiratory Journal is the peer-reviewed scientific publication of the European Respiratory Society (more than 8,000 specialists in lung diseases and respiratory medicine in Europe, the United States and Australia).

European Respiratory Society