Nasal epithelial cells of healthy and asthmatic participants
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Study of the inflammatory properties of the nasal epithelial cells of healthy and asthmatic participants to define molecular phenotypes of severe asthma
IRAS ID
336588
Contact name
Becky Ward
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Asthma is a common condition that can present with severe symptoms, and it is now recognised that this type of asthma can present in various ways. In studies where the airway lining in the lungs were looked at by obtaining lung lining scrapings, the expression of genes characteristic of a type of inflammation called Type 2 has been seen in many patients suffering from severe asthma. The lung lining also is important in protecting the lungs from various insults that are present in the air we breathe such as viruses, pollutants and allergic substances. The lung lining cells can also react to these insults by producing various chemicals and substances. There is evidence that the lung lining of people with asthma, particularly those with severe asthma, is different from that of non-asthmatic healthy individuals.
We would like to compare the properties of the lung lining cells of patients with 2 types of asthma, the mild-moderate and the severe asthma subjects, in terms of the genes they express and in terms of their response to the insults mentioned above. Therefore, we will obtain cells of lung lining from healthy people and from asthmatic participants who suffer from mild-moderate and severe asthma. We will obtain lung lining cells from the nose instead of from the lungs because these cells are more readily obtained using a small brush and does not necessitate the use of a more invasive procedure called bronchoscopy that would be needed to obtain brushes from the lungs.
This research project will allow us to understand how different these cells are between asthmatic and non-asthmatic subjects and will allow us to find ways by which one could restore any abnormalities found in the asthmatic subjects that could represent new ways of treating people with particularly severe asthma.REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/WM/0045
Date of REC Opinion
12 Mar 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion