Washington [US], The blood arteries of the lungs are different from the blood arteries of the rest of the body. This difference is evident in pulmonary hypertension, in which the blood arteries of only the lungs gradually become stiff, resulting in chronic lung disease, hearing failure, and death. The root causes of this organ-specific channel stiffening University of Pittsburgh researcher Stephen Chan and colleagues made an unexpected revelation about these blood vessel cells in pulmonary hypertension patients: They're hungry Chan, the Keynote Chair in Vascular Medicine and the Pittsburgh Professor of Medicine in th Division of Cardiology at the University, and his colleague worked with the team of Thomas Bertero at the Université Côte d'Azur in France. discovered that hypertensive pulmonary blood vessel cells have an insatiable appetite for two amino acids. The findings were published in the journal Cell Metabolism.Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, which help build cellular structures, carry out biological functions, and regulate tissue and organs. Celebration. As hypertensive pulmonary blood vessels metabolize glutamine and serine, they form two new amino acids, called proline and glycine. Proline and glycine are the primary building blocks of collagen proteins, which make up 3 percent of our body's total protein and provide a structural framework for our skin, muscles, bones, and connective tissues. Starvation of glutamine and serine and the resulting elevated levels of proline and glycine in hypertensive pulmonary blood vessel cells induce overproduction of collagen, leading to vessel stiffening and impaired function – the key feature of pulmonary hypertension disease. Using rodent models, researchers observed that drugs that limit the cellular absorption of glutamine and serine deprived hypertensive pulmonary blood vessels of their lumen.In turn, the lack of cellular glutamine and serine metabolism inhibited additional production of collagen building blocks and collagen production. Knowing that amino acids are often absorbed through our diet, the team also found that reducing dietary intake of glutamine – a serine-rich food substance – helps reduce the overproduction of collagen. “For the first time, "We have a dietary strategy that could serve as an effective therapy for the disease," said Chan, who directs the Institute of Vascular Medicine and the Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC. For patients with pulmonary hypertension, avoiding foods rich in serine and glutamine, or eating foods deficient in these amino acids, may increase the effectiveness of current medications. "This opens up a new avenue. "There are ways we can treat this disease, because now – instead of relying solely on drugs and transplants – there are potentially effective lifestyle interventions," said Tsai Chan.