The foot soldiers of the immune system, the white blood cells, constantly march through the body seeking out invaders, but kept in check by the barrier of endothelial cells that lines the inside of blood vessels. When infection occurs, molecular messages are transmitted amongst the white cells and between white cells and edothelium, to activate the immune cells to pass out of the blood vessels and mount a defence. Unfortunatley, the activation system sometimes goes awry, resulting in inflammator ....The foot soldiers of the immune system, the white blood cells, constantly march through the body seeking out invaders, but kept in check by the barrier of endothelial cells that lines the inside of blood vessels. When infection occurs, molecular messages are transmitted amongst the white cells and between white cells and edothelium, to activate the immune cells to pass out of the blood vessels and mount a defence. Unfortunatley, the activation system sometimes goes awry, resulting in inflammatory or allergic disease, such as arthritis or asthma. This team of researchers from the Hanson Institute in Adelaide, combining expertise in molecular and cell biology, protein chemestry, structual biology and animal models, has been working together for over 10 years, investigating the molecular mechanisms involved in controlling the formation and activities of blood vessels and white blood cells. This program seeks to further that understanding, and to develop drugs that have the potential of ameliorating the inflammatory condition.Read moreRead less
While many cases of asthma are mild, severe cases require extensive health care resources and are virtually unresponsive to conventional treatment. This project will investigate whether specific compounds released from the airway are able to cause lung damage and airway abnormalities similar to that in severe asthma. We will investigate whether these changes are responsive to conventional therapy and investigate a potential treatment for regaining this responsiveness in severe asthma.
Mechanisms Of Airway Narrowing In Eosinophilic And Non-eosinophilic Asthma
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$500,593.00
Summary
Asthma is associated with excessive airway narrowing, increased thickness of the airway wall and inflammation, most typically with eosinophils. However, 50% of cases have few eosinophils and respond less well to current treatments. This project will examine differences in airway structure between patients with or without eosinophils, using post-mortem tissue, as part of an international research collaboration.
Mannitol In The Assessment Of Bronchial Responsiveness In Airway Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,250.00
Summary
The airways of people with asthma respond by narrowing too easily and too much to a wide range of stimuli. The tests most commonly used to measure airway responsiveness in asthma are the pharmacological agents methacholine and histamine. When inhaled, they act directly on bronchial muscle causing it to contract and hence the airways to narrow. We have developed a non-pharmacological test using a dry powder of a sugar - mannitol. When inhaled, mannitol causes narrowing of the airways in asthmatic ....The airways of people with asthma respond by narrowing too easily and too much to a wide range of stimuli. The tests most commonly used to measure airway responsiveness in asthma are the pharmacological agents methacholine and histamine. When inhaled, they act directly on bronchial muscle causing it to contract and hence the airways to narrow. We have developed a non-pharmacological test using a dry powder of a sugar - mannitol. When inhaled, mannitol causes narrowing of the airways in asthmatics but little or no effect in healthy subjects. Many asthmatics respond to mannitol even when they have few symptoms of asthma. Mannitol causes the airways to narrow 'indirectly' by causing the release of substances from inflammatory cells in the airways (e.g. histamine, leukotrienes and prostaglandins) that cause the muscle to contract. After the inflammation has cleared, either by treatment with inhaled steroids or spontaneously, the response to mannitol is close to healthy subjects. Thus the response to mannitol depends on the presence of inflammation and loss of responsiveness means resolution of inflammation. The significance of this is that the mannitol test may be used as an 'inflammometer'. It would be important if airway responsiveness to mannitol could be used to identify individuals with airway diseases other than asthma, (chronic bronchitis, and chronic obstructive lung disease) who could benefit from treatment with inhaled steroids. This would be significant as there is currently no test to identify those individuals and there are unwanted effects from using steroids. Further, it may be possible to use mannitol to identify individuals with other inflammatory diseases who may be at risk of developing asthma. Some people with asthma, chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive lung disease have increased levels of oxidative stress. We wish to identify those people and to measure change after treatment with steroids.Read moreRead less
Increased Airway Smooth Muscle Mass As An Independent Determinant Of Asthma Pathogenesis And Severity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$409,966.00
Summary
Asthma is a major health burden to the community. The most common form of the disease is allergic asthma and it is thought that allergic inflammation drives associated airway abnormalities including increased airway smooth muscle (ASM) mass. This study tests a new hypothesis that airway abnormalities and allergy have separate origins but combine to produce allergic asthma, and it’s the individuals with the greatest amount of ASM who develop clinically severe asthma.
Heterogeneity Of Airway Smooth Muscle Remodelling In Asthma
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$623,078.00
Summary
Increased smooth muscle in the airways causes excessive narrowing and asthma symptoms. The distribution of the increased muscle in the lung varies between people with asthma and may determine how severe the asthma is and what treatments are best. This project will use tissues from many cases of asthma to map this distribution and will use laser scanning in the airways to develop a test to safely examine the smooth muscle in living people, in order to better treat or prevent asthma.