A new study found that two compounds added to tonic water may be an effective treatment for the allergic asthma.
Australian Woolcock Institute of Medical Research and School of Life Sciences at the University of Technology’s Dr Pawan Sharma and colleagues recently published their findings in the journal scientific reports.
Inhaling such substances can lead to inflammation of the airways, causing symptoms such as shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, and chest pain.
While there are medications that can help patients to manage their asthma symptoms such as corticosteroids and beta2 agonists, Dr Sharma noted that there are currently no asthma medications that target disease progression.
According to Dr Sharma and colleagues, previous research found that activating bitter taste receptors on the tongue, called TAS2Rs, led to the relaxation of smooth muscle in the airways of asthma mouse models.
The new study aimed to build on those findings by assessing whether TAS2R agonists – compounds that stimulate the bitter taste receptors – have the potential to reduce some of the key features of asthma. To reach their findings, the researchers gave mouse models of allergic asthma intranasal doses of either chloroquine or quinine. Twenty four hours after administration, the lung function, airway inflammation, and airway structure of the mice were assessed upon exposure to two allergens. Not only did chloroquine and quinine prevent airway inflammation in the mice, but the bitter compounds also prevented other key characteristics of allergic asthma, including mucus accumulation and structural changes to the airway.
The researchers also tested chloroquine and quinine on human airway cells. They found that the compounds block the chemotaxis, or movement, of immune cells in the airway in response to allergens, which helps to prevent airway inflammation.
Dr Sharma and team noted that further studies are needed in order to identify TAS2R agonists with higher efficacy for the treatment of asthma. “Alternately, existing drugs could be re-purposed for asthma therapy,” researchers said. They further stated” Advances in medicinal chemistry and computational modeling should catalyze the drug discovery process in exploiting TAS2Rs as novel anti-asthma therapeutic target.”