Spatial lung biology of acute respiratory distress syndrome
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Spatial Lung Biology of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (Bio-ARDS)
IRAS ID
349296
Contact name
Manu Shankar-Hari
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Every year about 120,000 adults who are admitted to Intensive Care Units (ICUs) require a machine, called a ventilator, to help them breathe. In patients who need ventilation, about 1 in 4 have a life-threatening condition with severe breathing difficulties called acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Unfortunately, around 40% of patients with ARDS die within 60 days of developing this condition.
Breathing difficulties in ARDS happen because the lungs fill with fluid because of inflammation, which is part of the body’s response to the conditions causing ARDS. Our understanding of why and how such changes happen to lungs is still incomplete. One way to understand this is to study post-mortem samples that are already available with all necessary authorisations. We plan to study how the different cells in the lung change in these samples.
Our research question addresses one of the top priorities identified by NIHR-funded James Lind Alliance Intensive Care research Priority Setting Partnership as important to patients, carers and health professionals:‘What is the best way of preventing damage to the lungs of patients receiving respiratory support (ventilation)?
In this context, we hypothesise that comprehensive understanding of lung biology would enable either discovery of new treatments or better use of repurposed treatments. NHS Lothian Clinical Archive has been used in other studies in different disease areas.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1
REC reference
24/NS/0144
Date of REC Opinion
10 Dec 2024
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion