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The University of Southampton
Medicine

Southampton research sheds new light on lung disease

Published: 7 January 2022
Alastair Watson

New research from the Faculty of Medicine has helped uncover biological processes of the lungs, which could lead to better treatments for respiratory disease.

This winter, Dr Alastair Watson has been awarded the British Thoracic Society (BTS) 2021 Medical Student Award for his role in innovative respiratory research. In this project, the team used a mass spectrometry technique called ‘multiomics’ to analyse samples from the lungs of patients with and without Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Human lungs have a liquid called ‘surfactant’ that contains fat molecules - called lipids - and proteins. This liquid is essential for breathing as it stops the lungs from sticking together and collapsing. The proteins in the liquid also have extra roles to prevent the lungs from infections and inflammation.

The study, published in the BMJ Thorax journal, found that patients with COPD had lower levels of surfactant lipids and proteins in their lungs. These patients also had higher levels of enzymes that breakdown surfactant proteins, which could contribute to there being less in the lungs.

“This decrease in surfactant in patients with COPD could be a consequence of the disease or could contribute to its development,” Dr Watson explains. “The lack of surfactant proteins could also contribute to the increased risk that these patients have of developing serious lung infections, which leads to COPD getting worse.”

“Surfactant drugs are currently being tried in patients with COVID-19 and developed for premature babies with lung disease. Therefore, there may be a possibility to develop surfactant-based drugs for patients with COPD in the future.”

The project stems from a longstanding collaboration between Southampton NIHR Biomedical Research Centre researcher Professor Tom Wilkinson and AstraZeneca, who funded the study.

Further work is exploring other differences identified in the lungs of patients with COPD and how these could contribute to disease and infection. This may enable scientists to identify novel targets that allow new drugs to be developed.  

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