Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Its Influencing Factors in Asthma Patients with Deficiency of Various Viscera:A Trend Analysis
Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of asthma patients with deficiency of various viscera through the analysis of mitochondrial dysfunction and related influencing factors,and to explore the DDAH1/L-Arg/ADMA pathway as well as the trend of changes in the mitochondrial function and oxygen metabolism of the asthma patients through the analysis.Methods A total of 122 patients with acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma who met the inclusion criteria were selected,and their clinical data were collected.The patients were divided into 3 groups based on the criteria of visceral deficiency syndrome differentiation,namely lung qi deficiency group(47 cases),lung-spleen qi deficiency group(39 cases),and lung-spleen-kidney deficiency group(36 cases).Meanwhile,the normal control group including 44 cases was set up.For the asthma patients with visceral deficiency,an observation was conducted in the lung function indicators of forced expiratory volume in the first second(FEV1),the ratio of FEV1 to forced vital capacity(FEV1/FVC)and peak expiratory flow(PEF)as well as the severity of the disease.Moreover,venous blood was sampled from the patients for the detection of L-arginine(L-Arg)and asymmetric dimethylarginine(ADMA)levels with high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry(HPLC-MS/MS),and for the detection of arginine metabolism related indicators of protein arginine methyltransferase 1(PRMT1)and dimethylarginine dimethylammonium hydrolysate 1(DDAH1)as well as the oxidative damage parameters of reactive oxygen species(ROS),thiobarbituric acid reactive substance(TBARS),8-iso-prostaglandins(8-iso),lipid peroxide(LPO),and malondialdehyde(MDA)with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).The platelet mitochondria were extracted from asthma patients and normal controls,and then the mitochondrial membrane potential(MMP),adenosine triphosphate(ATP),and activities of cytochrome C oxidase(COX)in the platelet were determined by JC-1 flow cytometric assay in order to assess the mitochondrial function.The changes in the mitochondrial function and their influence on the mitochondrial function of asthma patients with deficiency of various viscera were analyzed and then compared with those of the normal control group.Results(1)There were statistically significant differences in the age and lung function(FEV1,FEV1/FVC,PEF)among asthma patients with deficiency of various viscera(P<0.01):the age of the lung-spleen-kidney deficiency group was significantly older than that of the lung qi deficiency group and the lung-spleen qi deficiency group(P<0.05),and the lung function(FEV1,FEV1/FVC,PEF)showed a significant downward trend with the aggravation of viscera deficiency(P<0.05).(2)There was a statistically significant difference in the illness grading of patients with deficiency of various viscera(P<0.01).In the lung qi deficiency group,the illness status was predominated by intermittent state of asthma(grade 1),accounting for 65.96%,and then followed by mild asthma(grade 2),accounting for 25.53%.In the lung-spleen qi deficiency group,the illness status was predominated by moderate asthma(grade 3),accounting for 41.03%,and then followed by intermittent state of asthma(grade 1),accounting for 30.77%.In the lung-spleen-kidney deficiency group,the illness status was predominated by severe asthma(grade 4),accounting for 52.78%,and then followed by moderate asthma(grade 3),accounting for 33.33%.It is indicated that with the aggravation of viscera deficiency,the severity of asthma tended to be aggravated.(3)There were significant differences in plasma 8-iso,ROS,LPO and MDA levels between asthma patients with deficiency of various viscera and normal control group(P<0.05).The plasma 8-iso and LPO levels of the asthma patients with deficiency of various viscera and the plasma MDA and ROS levels of asthma patients with lung-spleen qi deficiency and lung-spleen-kidney deficiency were significantly higher than those in normal control group(P<0.05),and the plasma ROS level of asthma patients with lung-spleen qi deficiency and lung-spleen-kidney deficiency was significantly higher than that in asthma patients with lung qi deficiency(P<0.05).The plasma TBARS level of asthma patients with deficiency of various viscera tended to be higher than that of normal control group,but the difference was not statistically significant(P>0.05).It is indicated that reactive oxygen species and peroxide lipids accumulated in the body of asthma patients with deficiency of various viscera,and their levels increased with the aggravation of visceral deficiency.(4)The levels of MMP,ATP and COX in asthma patients with deficiency of various viscera were significantly lower than those in normal control group(P<0.05),and the activity of COX decreased with the aggravation of visceral deficiency.(5)The levels of plasma L-Arg,L-Arg/ADMA and DDAH1 in asthma patients with deficiency of various viscera were significantly lower than those in normal control group(P<0.05),and their levels decreased gradually with the aggravation of visceral deficiency.There was no significant difference in the plasma ADMA and PRMT1 levels between asthma patients with deficiency of various viscera and normal control group(P>0.05).Conclusion It is indicated that the visceral deficiency in asthma patients is consistent with the progression of illness status,oxygen metabolism and its influencing factors,and the degree of oxidative damage.It is suggested that the progression of illness status can be judged by visceral deficiency in traditional Chinese medicine according to the parameters of body metabolism.