Understanding adhesion formation, version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A study to characterise cells lining the abdominal cavity to improve our understanding of adhesion formation.
IRAS ID
121639
Contact name
Sarah E Herrick
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Research summary
Adhesions are bands of tissue that join together normally separated internal organs. They form in the majority of people following abdominal or pelvic surgery and are a leading cause of infertility, pelvic pain and small bowel obstruction. Adhesions are a major cause of morbidity as they often recur and patients require re-admission to hospital and subsequent surgery, which can be expensive. Adhesions are estimated to cost the National Health Service £67 million each year. Adhesions are also associated with endometriosis, peritonitis and are a regular complication of incisional hernia repair. Despite this, there are currently no adequate preventative therapies.
It is proposed that adhesions develop from blood clots deposited between damaged organs. In some cases, these clots are not cleared in time and are remodeled into permanent fibrous structures by the inward movement of repair cells and production of matrix proteins.
In order to prevent adhesion formation we aim to destabilize these blood clots using specific inhibitory antibodies that recognize and block the activity of key players in the clotting cascade. The validity of these antibodies as anti-adhesion agents will be tested using tissue culture assays systems using abdominal cells from patients undergoing surgery. A secondary aim is to characterise the repair cells that form adhesions and find ways to prevent them producing matrix proteins.
The overall goal of the project is to improve our understanding of the early events in post-operative adhesion formation in order to manipulate the pathway and prevent the occurrence of adhesions. This is crucial with respect to the development of novel treatments. Therefore, there is an urgent need for research in an effort to understand further the development of post-operative adhesions. To be able to complete these studies it is essential to use cells directly from patients undergoing surgery.REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/NE/0059
Date of REC Opinion
6 Mar 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion