New Test Measuring Cell Bioenergetic Health Could Become Key Tool in Personalized Medicine

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Newswise BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine have created an experimental blood test that, for the first time, determines a Bioenergetic Health Index, or BHI, by gauging the performance of mitochondria, the cells energy powerhouses. They report their laboratory findings in a recent issue of the journal Clinical Science.

Until now, a test of mitochondrial health has been elusive, experts say; but it could prove to be a significant early warning system for people with chronic diseases known to damage the mitochondria, such as HIV, alcoholic hepatitis, age-related diseases and more.

Over the past few years it has become clear that mitochondrial dysfunction is central to a wide range of important human diseases, ranging from diabetes, obesity and the metabolic syndrome to inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, said Mike Murphy, Ph.D., group leader at the Medical Research Councils Mitochondrial Biology Unit in Cambridge, United Kingdom, who was not an author on the study.

In clinical settings, patients BHI could be measured to determine their bioenergetic health baseline before they undergo different procedures, said Victor Darley-Usmar, Ph.D., a professor of pathology, director of the Mitochondrial Medicine Laboratory at UAB and lead author of the study.

BHI gauges mitochondria function by measuring oxygen consumption, which can be used as a measure of energy production, in peripheral blood cells. The concept is that as BHI declines it acts as a biomarker of the patients overall ability to provide sufficient energy to fight disease.

Assessing the function of mitochondria in patients has the potential to be an early indicator of bioenergetics impairment, leading to earlier diagnosis, contributing to prognosis and helping to suggest appropriate treatments. However, routine testing has not been feasible due to a lack of instrumentation and assay standardization. Therefore, the development of simple and widely applicable methods to assess mitochondrial function, such as a Bioenergetic Health Index in blood samples, is a significant breakthrough, Murphy said.

Russell Swerdlow, M.D., director of the University of Kansas Alzheimers Disease Center and the Neurodegenerative Disorders Program, said, The search for a valid, comprehensive, accurate predictor of overall human health has been somewhat like the search for the Holy Grail. With this current piece of work, the UAB group shoots to the head of the pack.

Swerdlow also was not an author of the paper.

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New Test Measuring Cell Bioenergetic Health Could Become Key Tool in Personalized Medicine