High fat energy meals may be dangerous for asthma sufferers because they can lead to both airway inflammation and the suppression of asthma medication albuterol, research from Australia indicates. As Medical News Today reports, these are the findings of a study that will be presented this week at the American Thoracic Society ATS 2010 International Conference in New Orleans.

In the study, asthma patients were monitored after they ate low and high fat meals. The high fat meal consisted of fast food burgers and hash browns, with a total of 1,000 calories, over 50 percent of which came from fat. The low fat, low calorie meal consisted of reduced fat yogurt, and contained about 200 calories with only 13 percent of them coming from fat.

Dr. Lisa Wood of the University of Newcastle, New South Wales and colleagues found that within hours of eating the high fat meal, patients showed signs of airway inflammation that were absent in those who had eaten the low fat meal. The high fat meal also inhibited the patients' response to Ventolin (a type of albuterol).

As Dr. Wood summarized in a media statement, ‘Subjects who had consumed the high-fat meal had an increase in airway neutrophils and TLR4 mRNA gene expression from sputum cells, that didn't occur following the low fat meal. The high fat meal impaired the asthmatic response to albuterol. In subjects who had consumed a high fat meal, the post-albuterol improvement in lung function at three and four hours was suppressed.’

The study offers new insight into the idea that lifestyle and diet may contribute to the increasing rates of asthma in westernized countries. In particular, high fat diets have been shown by previous research to stimulate the immune system, thereby causing higher levels of inflammation markers in the blood. This study, however, is believed to be the first to examine how a high fat meal impacts airway inflammation.

One possible issue with the study is that it did not distinguish between high fat and high energy in terms of the effect on asthma and asthma medication. However, because of the TLR4 response that was present, the authors confirm that the culprit is high fat and not the high energy that produced the inflammatory response. TLR4 stands for ‘toll-like receptor 4.’ It is present on the surface of cells and triggers an inflammatory response when it senses nutritional fatty acids.

If future studies confirm these findings, we may soon see asthma patients being advised to reduce fat in their diets. I think if I had asthma, though, I would take this information into account and begin implementing it immediately. What do you think?