For the study, researchers exposed mice to dust mites to incite an asthmatic response. The dust mites where found to spur the production of chemicals called reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, which can potentially damage DNA and other biological molecules.
“Our findings show that dust mites can not only induce an immune response, they can also cause direct DNA damage in the lung epithelial cells. These damaging effects are magnified when DNA repair is inhibited. It shows how important DNA repair is to prevent cell death,” said Tze Khee Chan, a graduate student in the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology and the study’s lead author.
Dust mites are ubiquitous, and as high as 85 percent of asthma patients are allergic to the home-dwelling creatures. The findings suggest that screening for DNA repair capacity in patients could be used to predict the development of severe asthma.
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