Ozone exposure is one of the factors worsening asthma

Korean medical researchers have objectively confirmed that ozone exposure is one of the factors aggravating asthma through a biomarker called Claudin, a junction protein in the blood.

Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital Bucheon said Wednesday that its research team led by Professor Jang An-soo of the Department of Respiratory and Allergy Medicine has confirmed this in a study titled “Effects of ozone on the junction proteins Claudin 4 and Claudin 5 in the blood of asthma patients.”

The team consisted of four researchers at at Soonchunhyang Institute of Medi-Bio Science : Lee Pureunhaneul, Ahn Min-hyuk, Hwang Da-yeon, and Kim Byung-kon.

Professor Jang's research paper won the “30th Cheongsan Outstanding Thesis Award” at the Korean Society of Asthma, Allergy, and Clinical Immunology autumn conference. The society annually confers the outstanding paper award to the most outstanding research published in its journal, Allergy Asthma & Respiratory Disease.

Claudin is a junctional protein between endothelial and epithelial cells that plays an important role in regulating airway inflammation. While ozone exposure is known to induce oxidative stress and lung inflammation, no studies have researched the effects of ozone on claudins in asthma patients.

The researchers analyzed the levels of claudin 4 and claudin 5 in 50 asthmatics and 25 controls as a function of ozone concentration. Specifically, they re-analyzed 18 patients with stable and exacerbated asthma and three controls to determine the effects of high ozone exposure on asthma patients.

The results showed that the level of claudin 4 in the blood of asthma patients during the high ozone period was significantly higher than that of the control group, while the level of claudin 5 in stable asthma patients was lower than that of the control group. The level of claudin 5 in exacerbated asthma patients was higher than that of stable asthma patients.

“These findings suggest that ozone exposure is one of the factors that contribute to asthma exacerbations and that Claudins may be used as new biomarkers of asthma exacerbations,” Professor Jang said. “We plan to conduct further studies on its association with other factors, such as obesity and asthma exacerbations.”

Jang was also the first worldwide to identify the role of the “Claudin Five” (cell barrier), opening new possibilities for asthma treatment, and has published 234 research papers on asthma and allergology in reputable journals at home and abroad.

As the 16th president of the Korean Academy of Asthma, Allergy, and Clinical Immunology, he is actively engaged in activities to improve public awareness of allergic and immune diseases, which are on the rise due to the rapidly changing climate and environment.