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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 However, levels of the protein produced by NRF2, and one of its regulators, DJ-1, are lower in COPD patients compared with patients without the disease. those levels are associated with the severity of the condition.
For this study, Biswal's group took lung tissue samples from smokers with and without COPD. The researchers compared the samples to see if there was a difference in the levels of NRF2 between people with and without COPD.
They also looked at levels of two biochemical regulators of NRF2, KEAP1 (which inhibits NRF2) and DJ-1 (which stabilizes it).
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Biswal's team found that COPD patients had significantly lower levels of NRF2-dependent antioxidants, increased oxidative stress markers and a significant decrease in NRF2 protein, compared with non-COPD patients.
They also found that both groups had similar levels of KEAP1, but among COPD patients levels of DJ-1 was significantly lower. All of this indicates that NRF2 was there, but had been degraded.
So, agents that target NRFS -- including the sulforaphane found in broccoli -- might someday be harnessed to give the natural antioxidant systems of COPD patients a boost.
These strategies might prove effective in treating the disease, Biswal said. "It could be more effective, but a lot of study needs to be done," he said.
Dr. Norman H. Edelman, a professor of preventive medicine, internal medicine, physiology and biophysics at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, said the research is promising but far from having any treatment implications.
"The finding is of scientific importance because it may reveal a common pathway for antioxidant deficiency in COPD lungs," Edelman said. "Despite the talk of having clinical relevance, I would think that this is a long way off," he said.
More information
For more information on COPD, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine .
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