ILD Controls V1.0

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Control subjects for better understanding of pathogenesis of fibrotic lung disease

  • IRAS ID

    139113

  • Contact name

    Toby M Maher

  • Contact email

    t.maher@rbht.nhs.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    3 years, 0 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    Pulmonary fibrosis is the final stage of various lung diseases including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), hypersensitivity pneumonitis and sarcoidosis. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive lung disease resulting from the formation and progression of scar tissue in the lungs leading to a reduction of the lungs capacity to transfer oxygen. The average survival time from diagnosis of IPF is between 3 to 5 years and IPF is estimated to account for around 4000 deaths per year in the UK.
    As part of the process of making the diagnosis, many IPF patients give blood samples and undergo a camera test to look in to the lungs (bronchoscopy); the bronchoscopy enables inflammatory cells to be collected from the lung. For patients undergoing bronchoscopy we will always try and seek consent for excess cells not required for clinical purposes to be used for research studies. Although the underlying cause of IPF is unknown, our understanding of some of the processes which lead to pulmonary fibrosis has recently improved and we are interested in studying some of the specific cell types found in the lungs particularly macrophages (a type of white blood cell).
    To support our work and confirm initial findings we wish to recruit age matched volunteers who would be willing to donate samples of their blood and optionally undergo bronchoscopy so that samples of inflammatory cells (bronchoalveolar lavage) and epithelial cells lining the main airways in the lung (endobronchial brushings) can be collected. We hope that these samples will enable us to identify and characterize the differences between the serum, plasma, lavage fluid, DNA, RNA and the lung cell populations in patients with and without evidence of fibrotic lung disease.

  • REC name

    London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    15/LO/1399

  • Date of REC Opinion

    21 Sep 2015

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion