What If The Treatment Doesn't Work: Nailing Steroid Resistant Asthma

Main Category: Respiratory / Asthma
Article Date: 05 Jan 2009 - 2:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Nailing steroid resistant asthma was the focus of a recent Biomedical Forum for clinicians, researchers and allied health professionals from Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts and King's College London.

As the management of steroid refractory asthma consumes up to 70% of total NHS asthma costs, there is an urgent need to increase understanding of the condition and to find ways to improve symptom control. The MRC/Asthma UK Centre at King's College London and the Asthma and Allergy theme of the comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre are carrying out vital translational research to overcome these problems and to improve the health of people living with the condition.

Research is focusing upon three areas:

-- Identifying new biomarkers to track the responsiveness of asthma to existing and new treatments
-- Finding ways to increase steroid responsiveness in individual patients
-- Increasing understanding of how steroids work so that these can be used more precisely.

One exciting line of research is focused on vitamin D. While many people are deficient in this vitamin, local research suggests that vitamin D may increase the effectiveness of the use of steroids in treating asthma and other diseases by increasing the production of an anti-inflammatory mediator called interleukin-10.

With modern technology now available, it should soon be possible to understand how steroids alter the function of cells and to use this knowledge to identify new approaches to improve response to treatment, which may well differ between individuals.

Professor Chris Corrigan said: "After many years of frustration, modern technology is now enabling us to identify the effects of steroids on cells, and how these may differ in patients who do not respond to steroids as we would expect. This opens up the exciting prospect of developing tailor-made new treatments for asthma, which we hope will make a real difference to the lives of patients, particularly those who suffer the daily misery of the most severe asthmatic symptoms".

To find out more about the translational research taking place within the comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College London, visit: www.biomedicalresearchcentre.org

Notes:

1. Guy's and St Thomas' provides around ¾ million patient contacts in acute and specialist hospital services every year. As one of the biggest NHS Trusts in the UK, it employs over 9,000 staff. The Trust works in partnership with the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing and Biomedical Sciences of King's College London and other Higher Education Institutes to deliver high quality education and research. Website: www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk

2. The comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London, is one of five National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) comprehensive Biomedical Research Centres in the UK. With its strong focus on 'translational research' across seven research themes and a number of cross-cutting disciplines, it aims to take advances in basic medical research out of the laboratory and into the clinical setting to benefit patients at the earliest opportunity. Access to the uniquely diverse patient population of London and the south east enables it to drive forward research into a wide range of diseases and medical conditions. Website: www.biomedicalresearchcentre.org.

3. King's College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher 2008) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has 19,700 students from more than 150 countries, and 5,400 employees. King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. The College is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of approximately £450 million. An investment of £500 million has been made in the redevelopment of its estate.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, social sciences, the health sciences, natural sciences and engineering, and has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe and is home to five Medical Research Council Centres - a total unsurpassed by any other university.

4. King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are working together to create a world-leading Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC). Our AHSC brings together an unrivalled range and depth of clinical and research expertise, spanning both physical and mental health. Our combined strengths will drive improvements in care for patients, allowing them to benefit from breakthroughs in medical science and receive leading edge treatment at the earliest possible opportunity. For more information, visit www.londonsahsc.org