vitamin-k-semiquinone-radical and Asthma

Vitamins play a crucial role in the proper functioning of organisms. Disturbances of their levels, seen as deficiency or excess, enhance the development of various diseases, including those of the cardiovascular, immune, or respiratory systems. The present paper aims to summarize the role of vitamins in one of the most common diseases of the respiratory system, asthma. This narrative review describes the influence of vitamins on asthma and its main symptoms such as bronchial hyperreactivity, airway inflammation, oxidative stress, and airway remodeling, as well as the correlation between vitamin intake and levels and the risk of asthma in both pre- and postnatal life.

Topics: Asthma; Bronchial Hyperreactivity; Humans; Vitamin A; Vitamin K; Vitamins

To administer optimal and safe pharmacotherapy, development of stratified and personalized therapy is imperative. Pharmacogenomics (PGx) is useful in elucidating factors causing individual differences in drug efficacy and the emergence of adverse effects. It also helps design accurate drug administration methods by evaluating the effects of patient-related factors, such as genetic factors, that influence pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD). In addition, selection of appropriate therapeutic agents requires the implementation of precision medicine allowing accurate disease diagnosis. To establish precision medicine, it is necessary to uncover the association of pathophysiological factors, which are represented as endotype or genotype, with the pathology of several phenotypes. This review describes two aspects related to realization of individualized medicine, namely the effectiveness of PK/PD/PGx studies and the stratification of pathological conditions. First, we conducted a PK/PD/PGx study with the aim to individualize warfarin treatment. In this study, we elucidated the effect of CYP4F2 polymorphisms associated with vitamin K metabolism by measuring the blood concentrations of warfarin and vitamin K. Then, to develop precision medicine for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), we analyzed not only clinical symptoms but also pathological biomarkers and genes associated with inflammation. The findings may contribute toward better understanding of the pathological conditions of asthma, COPD, and asthma-COPD overlap.

Topics: Asthma; Cytochrome P450 Family 4; Drug Therapy; Humans; Inflammation; Pharmacogenomic Testing; Pharmacokinetics; Polymorphism, Genetic; Precision Medicine; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive; Vitamin K; Warfarin

The prevalence of asthma and other atopic disorders continues to increase worldwide. Examination of the epidemiologic patterns has revealed that this rise has occurred primarily in western, industrialised countries and countries transitioning to this lifestyle. While many changes have occurred in human populations over the years, it has been hypothesised that some of the relevant changes that have led to the rise in asthma and atopic disorders have been the changes from a traditional diet to a more western diet consisting of decreased intake of fruits and vegetables (sources of antioxidant vitamins and carotenoids) leading to decreased intakes of vitamins E and A, and a decrease in sun exposure (e.g. greater time spent indoors and heavy use of sunscreen) leading to decreased circulating levels of vitamin D. This review will examine the evidence for an effect of fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D and K) on the development and severity of asthma and allergies. While observational studies suggest that these vitamins may play a salutary role in asthma and allergies, large, well-designed clinical trials are lacking. Of the fat-soluble vitamins, vitamin D holds great promise as an agent for primary and secondary prevention of disease. Ongoing clinical trials will help determine whether results of observational studies can be applied to the clinical setting.

Topics: Animals; Asthma; Avitaminosis; Diet; Humans; Hypersensitivity, Immediate; Vitamin A; Vitamin D; Vitamin K; Vitamins

Vitamins are a group of organic compounds occurring naturally in food and are necessary for good health. Lack of a vitamin may lead to a specific deficiency syndrome, which may be primary (due to inadequate diet) or secondary (due to malabsorption or to increased metabolic need), and it is rational to use high-dose vitamin supplementation in situations where these clinical conditions exist. However, pharmacological doses of vitamins are claimed to be of value in a wide variety of conditions which have no, or only a superficial, resemblance to the classic vitamin deficiency syndromes. The enormous literature on which these claims are based consists mainly of uncontrolled clinical trials or anecdotal reports. Only a few studies have made use of the techniques of randomisation and double-blinding. Evidence from such studies reveals a beneficial therapeutic effect of vitamin E in intermittent claudication and fibrocystic breast disease and of vitamin C in pressure sores, but the use of vitamin A in acne vulgaris, vitamin E in angina pectoris, hyperlipidaemia and enhancement of athletic capacity, of vitamin C in advanced cancer, and niacin in schizophrenia has been rejected. Evidence is conflicting or inconclusive as to the use of vitamin C in the common cold, asthma and enhancement of athletic capacity, of pantothenic acid in osteoarthritis, and folic acid (folacin) in neural tube defects. Most of the vitamins have been reported to cause adverse effects when ingested in excessive doses. It is therefore worthwhile to consider the risk-benefit ratio before embarking upon the use of high-dose vitamin supplementation for disorders were proof of efficacy is lacking.

Topics: Acne Vulgaris; Ascorbic Acid; Asthma; Cardiovascular Diseases; Common Cold; Fibrocystic Breast Disease; Humans; Neoplasms; Osteoporosis; Vitamin A; Vitamin B Complex; Vitamin D; Vitamin E; Vitamin K; Vitamins

A series of 191 patients with bronchial asthma were treated with menaquinone for not less than one year to investigate the clinical effects of the drug. The clinical effect may be summarized as follows: 1) The therapy with menaquinone only gave an effective rate oo 90.9% (a markedly effective rate of 42.4%) in mild patients, an effective rate of 86.7% (a markedly effective rate of 30.0%) in moderate patients, and effective rate of 72.7% (a markedly effective rate of 27.3%) in severe patients; namely, considerably a high effective rate was attained by the therapy in the respective patients. 2) The therapy with menaquinone, in conjunction with hyposensitization therapy, gave an effective rate of 100% (a markedly effective rate of 33.3%). 3) The double blind study of the clinical effects of menaquinone revealed that placebo used in the study was effective on only 16.7% of the patients treated with it, and that the incidence of recurrence due to withdrawal of meaquinone therapy tended to be low in the patients treated with the drug for a long period of time.

Topics: Asthma; Azathioprine; Clinical Trials as Topic; Desensitization, Immunologic; Drug Combinations; gamma-Globulins; Gold; Histamine; Humans; Mercaptopurine; Placebos; Vitamin K

Fat-soluble vitamins A, E and K have been shown to play roles in immunity and inflammation, but studies on child allergic disease have been few and inconsistent. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between maternal intake of vitamins A, E and K in mid-pregnancy and child asthma and allergic rhinitis. We used data on 44 594 mother-child pairs from the Danish National Birth Cohort. Maternal intake of fat-soluble vitamins was calculated based on the information from a validated FFQ completed in mid-pregnancy. At 18 months, interviews with the mothers were conducted to evaluate doctor-diagnosed child asthma. At age 7 years, we assessed child asthma and allergic rhinitis using questions from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire and by national registries on hospital contacts and medication use. Current asthma was defined as asthma diagnosis and wheeze in the past 12 months by maternal report. We calculated multivariable risk ratios and 95 % CI by comparing the highest v. lowest quintile (Q) of maternal vitamin A, E and K intake in relation to child allergic disease outcomes. Maternal total vitamin K intake was directly associated with ever admitted asthma (Q5 v. Q1: 1·23, 95 % CI 1·01, 1·50) and current asthma at 7 years (Q5 v. Q1: 1·30, 95 % CI 0·99, 1·70). Weak inverse associations were present for maternal vitamin A and E intake during pregnancy with child allergic rhinitis. Maternal vitamin K intake during pregnancy may increase the risk of child asthma, and should be explored further on a mechanistic level. Conversely, maternal vitamin A and E intake may protect against child allergic rhinitis.

Topics: Adult; Asthma; Child; Denmark; Diet; Dietary Supplements; Female; Humans; Infant; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Pregnancy; Prenatal Care; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Registries; Rhinitis, Allergic; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial; Surveys and Questionnaires; Vitamin A; Vitamin E; Vitamin K

The mechanism of action of the drug was investigated from various points of view. The findings may be summarized as follows: 1. In the experiments of the degranulation of mesenteric mast cells of rats, menaquinone proved to significantly inhibit the degranulation either in active or passive sensitization with the reagin-like antibody. 2. Menaquinone did not inhibit the formation of the reagin-like antibody. 3. In the experiements of the degranulation of basophilic granulocytes from patients of bronchial asthma, the rate of appearance of A form basophilic cells upon addition of the antihuman IgE goat serum was not markedly but significantly inhibited in the patients treated with menaquinone for long periods, as compared with that in the control, whereas the in vitro addition of menaquinone did not exert a significant inhibitory action.

Topics: Animals; Antibody Formation; Asthma; Basophils; Humans; Immunoglobulin E; Mast Cells; Rats; Reagins; Vitamin K

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Antigen-Antibody Reactions; Asthma; Basophils; Differential Threshold; Eosinophils; Female; Humans; Immunoglobulin E; Leukocyte Count; Male; Middle Aged; Ostreidae; Skin Tests; Staining and Labeling; Vitamin K; Vitamin K 1

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Animals; Antihypertensive Agents; Asthma; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Guinea Pigs; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis; Prednisolone; Vitamin K

Topics: Amino Acids; Antifibrinolytic Agents; Asthma; Humans; Liver Extracts; Vitamin A; Vitamin K; Vitamins