AUTHOR=Sordillo Joanne E. , Lutz Sharon M. , Kelly Rachel S. , McGeachie Michael J. , Dahlin Amber , Tantisira Kelan , Clish Clary , Lasky-Su Jessica , Wu Ann Chen
TITLE=Plasmalogens Mediate the Effect of Age on Bronchodilator Response in Individuals With Asthma
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine
VOLUME=7
YEAR=2020
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2020.00038
DOI=10.3389/fmed.2020.00038
ISSN=2296-858X
ABSTRACT=Background: Asthma is known to display different phenotypes across the life-course, suggesting that age related changes are particularly relevant to understanding asthma pathogenesis and remission. We have previously demonstrated that a lung function phenotype associated with asthma, bronchodilator response, is reduced with age, at rate of 0.24 percent per year.
Methods: In this study, we interrogated the serum metabolome, to determine whether circulating metabolites mediate age-related changes in bronchodilator response (BDR) for individuals with asthma. We used data on 295 participants from the follow-up phase of the CAMP clinical trial (age 12.2–25.9 years; mean BDR of 8%, standard deviation 7%). Using a counterfactual framework, we analyzed over 500 pareto-scaled metabolites using mediation analysis to identify indirect effects of age through potential metabolite mediators.
Results: There was a significant indirect effect of age on BDR through 4 plasmalogens (C36:1 PC and related metabolites) (Indirect Effect Beta = −0.001, p = 0.006).
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that plasmalogens may contribute to age-related asthma phenotypes, and may also serve as potential pharmacologic targets for enhancement of lung function in individuals with asthma.
Trial Registration: This work uses data from the previous clinical trial of asthma, the Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP), registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, # NCT00000575.