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REVIEW article

Front. Physiol.

Sec. Metabolic Physiology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1621013

This article is part of the Research TopicBeyond Energy Production: Exploring Mitochondrial Dynamics and DiseaseView all articles

Emerging role of the TCA cycle and its metabolites in lung disease

Provisionally accepted
Xinan  LuXinan Lu1Aijun  ZhangAijun Zhang1Huaying  WangHuaying Wang2Xinjia  XuXinjia Xu1Liping  ChenLiping Chen2Lingfang  LuoLingfang Luo1*
  • 1Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Affiliated Cixi Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Ningbo, China
  • 2Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China, Ningbo, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

The TCA cycle is a central pathway for oxidative phosphorylation in eukaryotic mitochondria, plays a role in energy production and biosynthesis, and can alter cellular function in a variety of ways.As our understanding of the TCA cycle has improved, there is increasing evidence that it is inextricably linked to lung disease. This article summarizes the relationship between the TCA cycle and different types of lung disease and focuses on the specific mechanisms by which the TCA cycle and its intermediate metabolites influence lung disease progression.

Keywords: TCA cycle, Asthma, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Pulmonary hypertension (PH), lung cancer

Received: 30 Apr 2025; Accepted: 04 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Lu, Zhang, Wang, Xu, Chen and Luo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Lingfang Luo, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Affiliated Cixi Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Ningbo, China

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