Doctors have long wondered why children without allergies can still have asthma, cough and wheeze. In a new study, scientists from Cleveland have identified a protein that may be responsible for these processes.
TRPV1, a protein that plays a role in airway disease through mucus production, cough stimulation, and airway constriction, has been found to be responsible for asthma-related symptoms in children even in the absence of allergies. According to the authors, many people believe Asthma is essentially an allergic process, and alternative pathways have been explored for many years that can cause inflammation in the airways and lead to coughing in non-allergic children. TRPV1 plays a critical role in the cough mechanism, although it is not associated with immune or allergic mechanisms. Many young children cough and wheeze when they become infected with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), similar to an asthma attack, but they do not respond to typical drugs given to adult asthmatics, and this study may explain this situation. Using bronchial epithelial cells from the lungs of the deceased donors, researchers compared TRPV1 expression in children and adults with and without asthma; the measurement was then repeated after infection of the RSV cells. They found that RSV infection significantly increased TRPV1 activation in children, but not in adults. RSV infection of the airway epithelium in children alters the function of calcium channels involved in bronchoconstriction , mucus production, and cough, which may contribute to the development of viral bronchiolitis and asthma. TRPV1 expression is increased in patients with asthma and may additionally be increased by viral infections.
By better understanding the mechanism by which regulation occurs, these channels can then be targeted to a new generation of molecules and the development of new drugs to control childhood coughs and wheezing. cough contain opioids, the authors note. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, cough medicines should not be prescribed or used by children under the age of six. These products can have potentially serious side effects. What’s more, an FDA advisory committee recently declared almost unanimously that the risks of using certain opioids in children’s cough medicines outweigh the benefits.