Sphingosine-1-phosphate in asthma
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Does sphingosine-1-phosphate constrict human airways? In-vivo challenge pilot study.
IRAS ID
223069
Contact name
Grzegorz Woszczek
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 31 days
Research summary
This study is being undertaken in order to improve our understanding how human airways are being constricted (narrowed) in healthy people and in individuals with asthma. There is an unmet need for identification of new pathways (mediators) related to enhanced narrowing of the airways in individuals with asthma that would help to find new targets for therapy.
Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a naturally occurring lipid molecule that has been suggested to play an important role in asthma. Physiologically, there is very low level of S1P in healthy lungs but increased amounts (concentrations) of S1P have been detected in airways of asthmatic subjects after allergen inhalation suggesting that S1P may cause narrowing of the airways. When studied in animal models, S1P did not cause narrowing of airways in healthy animals but narrowed airways in animals with lung inflammation similar to asthma. As yet, however, we lack evidence that S1P actually causes narrowing of airways in people in real life. Our aim is to find out whether inhalation of S1P causes narrowing of the airways in adults with and without asthma.REC name
London - South East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0780
Date of REC Opinion
31 Jul 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion