Airway inflammation in Asthma
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Airway Inflammation in Sputum-Producing Children with Asthma
IRAS ID
245030
Contact name
Prasad Nagakumar
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
One in eleven children in the UK have asthma. Although most are successfully managed with appropriate medications, one in twenty have ongoing severe symptoms despite receiving optimal treatment. Poor symptom control results in missing school and sports, significant morbidity and high utilisation of healthcare resources.
Children with asthma have airway inflammation. Children with severe asthma (those with uncontrolled symptoms despite receiving optimal treatment) may have a pattern of airway inflammation that responds less well to steroids. There is increasing evidence that children with severe asthma are a “mixed group” with different patterns of airway inflammation. Understanding the pattern of airway inflammation may allow the development of new treatments for severe asthma or permit targeted use of emerging treatments for subgroups of children with severe asthma.
Children with severe asthma who also have a persistent wet cough or who regularly cough up phlegm will be studied to investigate whether their severe disease symptoms reflect a distinct pattern of airway inflammation.
Airway inflammation patterns can be assessed through samples obtained at bronchoscopy (a camera passed into the airways under general anaesthetic). This procedure is invasive and provides only a snapshot at a single moment in time. Less invasive methods would allow the monitoring of airway inflammation over time in the clinical setting, enabling assessment of treatment response and disease progress.
This study will use samples collected as part of clinical assessment and management of children with severe asthma at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Additional research samples (including sputum and blood) will be collected to define the less-invasive assessment of airway inflammation and infection in school-aged children with asthma and compare these measures to children with other respiratory symptoms (recurrent chest infections or prolonged cough). In those children undergoing a clinically indicated bronchoscopy non-invasive measures will be compared to bronchoscopic samples.
REC name
Wales REC 7
REC reference
18/WA/0225
Date of REC Opinion
2 Aug 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion