BeaCh: interactions between bronchoconstriction and cough in asthma
Research type
Research Study
Full title
BeaCh: A randomised, single-blind, cross-over study investigating the interactions between bronchoconstriction and cough in asthma
IRAS ID
169442
Contact name
Imran Satia
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University Hospital of South Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 6 days
Research summary
Asthma is a common disorder of the small tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs (airways). The main problem in asthma is that these tubes can become inflamed, tight and narrowed. Patients with asthma occasionally have symptoms of wheeze, cough, shortness of breath, and chest tightness during attacks of asthma. We are currently unsure how narrowing of the tubes actually causes these symptoms.
The results of our previous study (CoAst) showed that, during a capsaicin cough challenge, people with asthma cough more than healthy volunteers. This suggests that the nerves that cause cough might not be working properly. The majority of the patients in the study had good lung function, i.e. the airways were not narrowed.
Our next research question is to understand if people with asthma cough more to capsaicin if the airways are narrowed slightly. This will help us to understand if narrowing of the airways causes coughing. Likewise, we also want to understand if excessive coughing makes it easier for the airways to become narrowed.
This proposed study will take place at two sites with participants who have taken part in the COAST study (Studying Cough in Asthma Phenotypes). We aim to recruit only participants with mild asthma, who have evidence of allergies, coughed to capsaicin and showed evidence of airway hyper-responsiveness.
This study will be a 6 visit randomised, single-blind, cross-over study involving data collection from 15 patients with mild asthma. We will perform lung function on participants before, during and after capsaicin evoked coughing and methacholine induced bronchoconstriction.
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NW/0052
Date of REC Opinion
22 Jan 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion