Asthma and COPD

Unrestrained activation of the immune system attracts more and more pro-inflammatory macrophages that secrete cytokines which results in damage of tissue, which in turn is associated to many common diseases e.g. asthma and Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). To avoid the outbreak and/or to treat the symptoms of such diseases, there are anti-inflammatory drugs that function to reduce the activation of the immune system. However, such anti-inflammatory drugs can have severe side effects, which makes it beneficial to use drugs with a sustained response in between treatments. Further, if we understand the mechanisms of such a sustained response, we can use the knowledge about these mechanisms in the search for new and better drug candidates. In this project we therefore study the anti-inflammatory response of alveolar macrophages to a common glucocorticoid drug: Dexamethasone, and find a sustained response to the drug up until 22 hours after withdrawal of the drug. We provide a first model of the sustained effect of an anti-inflammatory drug in alveolar macrophages, which opens up for more systematic searches for drug candidates with sustained anti-inflammatory responses, potentially with fewer side effects.

Collaborations