Energy Status of Lymphocytes in Children with Bronchial Asthma of Various Severity in Comparison with Frequently Ill and Healthy Children.

We studied disturbances of cellular energy exchange as one of the leading factors in the development of chronic inflammation in asthma. Comparison of the indicators of mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis in lymphocytes of children with bronchial asthma of different severity, children from the group of frequently ill, and conditionally healthy children showed that the degree of impaired energy metabolism correlates with the severity of the disease. In mild and compensated course of bronchial asthma, as well as in the group of frequently ill children, an increase in the activity of oxidative phosphorylation was observed, which was also accompanied by support in the form of glycolysis activation. This suggests that the energy supply mechanisms are preserved. In more serious cases (moderate bronchial asthma), mitochondrial respiration was hyperactivated with suppression or even absence of glycolysis in some cells. In children with severe bronchial asthma, depression of all studied dehydrogenases was observed, which is probably an unfavorable prognostic sign. These results make it possible to determine the indications for the choice of basic therapy drugs and can serve as a prognostic marker of the severity of the course of the disease.