Scientists have announced a breakthrough that could help develop a new treatment for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Their findings, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, identifies a class of drugs that reverse the symptoms of inflammatory lung diseases.
Andrew Tobin, professor of molecular pharmacology at the University of Glasgow, said: “It was indeed a surprise to find that by targeting a protein that up to now has been thought of as being activated by fish oils in our diet we were able to relax airway muscles and prevent inflammation.
“We are optimistic that we can extend our findings and develop a new drug treatment for asthma and COPD.”
The drugs used by the Glasgow team work through a mechanism that is distinct from current medicines for asthma and COPD.
The new approach is centred on the activation of a protein called free fatty acid receptor 4, which is found in the gut and pancreas, where it is activated by dietary fats including the fish oil omega 3.
The Glasgow team found the receptor is also present in the human lung and established that activating it can reverse key hallmarks of inflammatory lung diseases.
