Pre-clinical

Interstitial lung disease

• An investigation into the mechanisms of lung injury and repair in inflammatory, infective, fibrotic and destructive lung disease:
  • We aim to understand more about how the lung is able to recover from damage caused by infection, inhaled toxins (including pollution), inflammation and other diseases. CURRENTY RECRUITING.
• Investigation of matrix regulation in chronic lung disease:
  • Chronic respiratory disease is characterised by lung scarring or fibrosis. This work investigates the development of scar tissue in disease as diverse as pulmonary fibrosis, asthma and tuberculosis. By understanding the mechanisms that underlie the scarring process, we can help to develop drugs to overcome it.
• Autoantibodies and pulmonary fibrosis:
  • Studying the role of auto-antibodies (antibodies that the body makes against its own organs) in pulmonary fibrosis. In particular, we are developing ways to looking for auto-antibodies that attack patients’ own blood vessels in patients with interstitial lung diseases including IPF and rheumatoid arthritis associated ILD.
• Circulating white blood cells:
  • We have shown that a specific type of circulating white blood cells, called neutrophils, are different in patients with IPF and can help us predict which patients will do less well than others. We are trying to find out more about why this happens and whether the abnormal neutrophils are the result of, or the cause of, the lung disease.
• Activation of white blood cells in the lung:
  • We have shown that white blood cells are activated in the lungs of patients with pulmonary fibrosis and are carrying out studies to find out what causes this activation and whether it can be reversed. In particular, we are investigating the effect of low oxygen concentration on white cell activation in IPF and other diseases.
• Airway epithelial project:
  • We are able to look at the interactions of white cells and the lung epithelium and compare the white cells from patients with pulmonary fibrosis to those from control patients with no lung disease. We are particularly interested in how the mucin Muc5B (that gives sputum it’s ‘stringy’ quality) might influence these interactions. We are also looking at whether genetic material from the lung can be detected in blood of patients with IPF allowing a test for earlier diagnosis, and to measure response to novel treatments.
• Platelets and pulmonary fibrosis:
  • Investigating the role of platelets in IPF and other ILDs. We have studies looking at whether platelets accumulate in the lungs of patients with lung fibrosis, and whether platelets are abnormally ‘sticky’ in these patients.
• The coagulation cascade in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis – the manipulation of the coagulation cascade using dabigatran and assessing the contribution of this biological pathway in IPF by performing PET scans pre- and post- treatment:
  • For many years, it has been recognised that patients with IPF are at increased risk of blood clots. We are looking at whether patients derive benefits from taking drugs that ‘thin’ the blood to prevent clots. A special scanner called a PET CT (positron emission topography, computerised topography) is able to give more information about the lungs of patients with scarring. This scanning technique will be used to see if blocking coagulation helps treat the disease. We are completing a study this year and hope to publish the results and apply for a bigger study.
• Development of a diagnostic and prognostic blood test for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, in collaboration with Owlstone Medical:
  • Currently, IPF patients need regular hospital appointments to assess the effect of their treatment and the status of their disease. Once in hospital, patients are assessed through a combination of history, examination, functional assessment, blood tests and imaging. To decrease the frequency of these visits and investigations, we are developing tests for self-assessment at home. One of these approaches involves measuring the levels of a specific set of ‘volatile organic compounds’ (VOCs) in the breath of IPF patients. We are investigating whether immune cells, which may be helping to maintain the disease, produce this specific set of VOCs in collaboration with Owlstone Medical, leaders in the field of breath analysis. Read more info here.