Inhaled Corticosteroids and Vascular Ageing
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the role of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) on vascular ageing and cardiovascular comorbidities in COPD
IRAS ID
1010334
Contact name
Koralia Paschalaki
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN11747857
Research summary
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common chronic lung disease mainly caused by cigarette smoking. Cardiovascular (heart) disease is a major cause of death in COPD patients, but the link between the diseases is not fully understood. Standard treatment in COPD is the use of inhalers with two types of bronchodilators (drugs that widen the airways), named long-acting-muscarinic-receptor-antagonists: LAMAs and long-acting-β2-agonists: LABAs. If COPD patients have severe disease or frequent flare-ups, treatment with a combination of bronchodilators with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) is recommended (ICS/LAMA/LABA triple therapy), as it has been shown to reduce flare-ups and improve death rates.
The cells that line the blood vessels, known as endothelial cells, have a critical role in maintaining a healthy heart and blood vessels. Ageing of these cells leads to blood vessels dysfunction and heart disease. We have been able to isolate cells from blood that turn into endothelial cells and repair vessels’ damage. We found that unlike healthy cells, those from COPD patients are dysfunctional, prematurely aged, and cannot repair blood vessel damage.
Interestingly, we found that COPD patients that received treatment with bronchodilators and ICS had healthier endothelial cells compared to patients that received bronchodilators only. We aim to understand the causes of premature ageing of the vessels and heart disease in COPD, and how treatment with ICS may protect COPD patients from cardiovascular complications. We will recruit 60 COPD patients that have not been given ICS before, who will be divided into two groups: the first will receive bronchodilators only (LABA/LAMA) and the second ICS/LAMA/LABA triple therapy for 12 weeks. We will measure the stiffening of the vessels and ageing of endothelial cells in all patients before and after treatment, aiming to discover whether ICS prevent premature ageing of blood vessels and reduce cardiovascular disease in COPD.REC name
Wales REC 3
REC reference
24/WA/0260
Date of REC Opinion
3 Oct 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion