In this study, to our best knowledge, we report for the first time that 13-S-HODE, a linoleic acid metabolite, causes mitochondrial dysfunction and bronchial epithelial injury. Although much is known about leukotrienes in asthma12, much less attention has been given to other lipid metabolites. We studied 13-S-HODE because of increasing evidence of the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in asthma7, 8, 9 and high concentrations of 13-S-HODE are found in reticulocytes during degeneration of mitochondria of reticulocytes16. On the other hand, mitochondrial dysfunction seems to be crucial in the genesis of epithelial injury and asthma pathogenesis in mice7, 8, 9. Similarly dysfunctional mitochondria have been found in human asthmatic bronchial epithelia30. Transfer of mitochondria from stem cells to alveolar epithelial cells reversed acute lung injury in sepsis, indicating the crucial role that mitochondrial health in lung diseases17. In this context, understanding the effects of 13-S-HODE on airway epithelium is essential because we found its levels to be high in the airway secretions and extracellular fluids. Also it is practically difficult to reduce the levels of 13-S-hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid (13-S-HODE) as there are many sources for its synthesis13, 14, 15.
So metabolite damages your mitochondria, causing asthma. Among other things, I'd not be surprised.
From 1961:
"The fatty acid composition of erythrocyte and liver mitochondrial lipids was readily and drastically altered by varying the fatty acid content of the diet."
That's in rats, but the same thing has been found in humans, in all the tissues I've read reports about. To quote from the original post: "...the risk for uncontrolled asthma increased with a higher n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio."
So that suggests that a low-omega-6 diet would be useful in inhibiting or preventing asthma.
I'd always assumed it was wheat, as it's been shown to be involved with exercise-induced asthma, along with other varieties of asthma. Perhaps they work in concert?
The "other things" mentioned above are likely the Metabolic Syndrome. Another paper from the same author:
"Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Metabolic Syndrome and Asthma"
