Cellular and systemic energy metabolic dysregulation in asthma development- a hypothesis-generating approach.

Abstract Background The roles of systemic and airway-specific epithelial energy metabolism in altering the developmental programming of airway epithelial cells (AECs) in early life are poorly understood. Objective To assess carbohydrate metabolism in developing AECs among children with and without wheeze and test the association of infant plasma energy biomarkers with subsequent recurrent wheeze and asthma outcomes. Methods We measured cellular carbohydrate metabolism in live nasal AECs collected at age 2-years from 15 male subjects with and without wheeze history and performed a principal component analysis to visually assess clustering of data on AEC metabolism of glycolitic metabolites and simple sugars. Among 237 children with available 1-year plasma samples, we tested the associations of 1-year plasma energy biomarkers and recurrent wheeze and asthma using generalized estimating equations and logistic regression. Results Children with a history of wheeze had lower utilization of glucose in nasal AECs than children with no wheeze. Systemically, higher plasma glucose concentration at year 1 (within the normal range) was associated with decreased odds of asthma at age 5-years (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.35-0.90). Insulin, glucose/insulin ratio, c-peptide, and leptin at year 1 were associated with recurrent wheeze from age 2-5 years. Conclusion These studies suggest that there is significant energy metabolism dysregulation in early life which likely impacts AEC development. These pertubations of epithelial cell metabolism in infancy may have lasting effects on lung development, which could render the airway more susceptible to allergic sensitization.