Breakthrough in treatment of lung disease

For the first time, scientists have found an antibody treatment that not only stops pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) from getting worse, but also reverses the condition in mice and rats.

Dr Shannon Amoils, research advisor at the British Heart Foundation (BHF), which co-funded the study, said PAH “can have a devastating effect on people’s quality of life and is often fatal”.

A condition that affects around 2,200 adults in England and Wales, PAH involves high pressure in the blood vessels supplying the lungs.

It is caused by changes in the cells lining the arteries that take blood from the heart to the lungs, a process called vascular remodelling.

A university spokesman said current treatments target the constriction of the arteries, but “fail to fully reverse the underlying vascular remodelling”.

However, the researchers have now demonstrated that blocking a protein called TRAIL (tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand) improves the disease.

Dr Allan Lawrie, who led the study, said: “This data, from animal models, provides validation and we are now actively pursuing a route to develop human antibodies as a potential new treatment for PAH, though this is likely to be several years from the clinic.”