Pulmonary hypertension is a condition causing high blood pressure within blood vessels in the lungs and 1 % of the world’s population suffers from it. Even though there is no particular cure for pulmonary hypertension, treatment options like surgery and lifestyle changes can help manage symptoms.
According to a new study published in Cell Metabolism, dietary changes which limit the use of amino acids glutamine and serine will help slow symptoms of pulmonary hypertension and improve the effectiveness of current medications. Doctors decided to look for a link between diet and pulmonary hypertension when they observed that diseased cells known as fibroblasts of the lung blood vessels of the lung blood vessels in pulmonary hypertension are surprisingly “hungry” for the amino acids glutamine and serine.
Data shows that this hunger comes from the need for fibroblasts to increase collagen production and deposition in and around the blood vessels to stiffen them in disease. Researchers also cut off the amino acid supply or prevented the use of the amino acids for collagen production, vessel stiffening, and worsening of pulmonary hypertension.
A mouse model was used to test this theory. When the mice were administered drugs that lowered their cellular uptake of glutamine and serine, the pulmonary hypertensive blood vessels were relieved of their craving. Researchers also found the lack of glutamine and serine stopped the production of excess collagen, which would lead to lung blood vessel stiffening and impaired function.
Through the research team’s findings regarding serine and glutamine, they were also able to develop a new diagnostic test for pulmonary hypertension. The test uses positron emission tomography (PET) scan technology and a glutamine imaging tracer to track where glutamine goes in the body. Cells “hungry” for glutamine distinguish themselves on the PET scan, helping doctors with making a diagnosis.
One of the crucial obstacles in managing pulmonary hypertension is that the diagnosis requires an invasive test called cardiac catheterization, where a long hollow tube is inserted into the blood vessels of the neck. That catheter is then threatened down into the heart and lungs to measure pressure directly. Since all medical centres cannot do this, treating patients with this disease becomes difficult in rural areas.
Doctors also say that even though noninvasive imaging studies like MRI and ultrasound in managing the disease are used, they are not sufficient to make the diagnosis. Thus, accurate and early diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension is crucial, and there is a clear unmet need for developing better noninvasive diagnostic technology. Researchers have proof that specific dietary adjustments like reducing glutamine and serine consumption, in particular, may serve as an effective way of treating pulmonary hypertension.
For patients with pulmonary hypertension, avoiding foods rich in serine and glutamine, or eating foods with these amino acids depleted, might improve symptoms, reduce disease progression, or bolster the effectiveness of current More work is needed to determine if lower levels of amino acid restriction have the same therapeutic effect and if more feasible and safe dietary maneuvers could bolster current treatments to promote even better improvement of the disease.
