Developing new drug against leading causes of death - sepsis and ARDS
Scientists at Queen's University Belfast are developing a potential revolutionary new treatment for sepsis and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), which are among the leading causes of death in hospitalised patients in the UK.
Currently, there are no effective treatments available for these life threatening syndromes.
The novel anti-inflammatory drug, SAN101, is being developed by a team of scientists and clinicians at the School of Pharmacy and the Centre for Infection and Immunity at Queen's, alongside colleagues at Trinity College Dublin. It is the result of an initial discovery made over 6 years ago at Queen's. Pre-clinical results are published in Science Translational Medicine.
The team at Queen's have developed a nanoparticle that binds to immune cells in the body and inhibits the excessive cycle of inflammation which drives the development of sepsis and ARDS. This new approach has the potential to reduce the impact of sepsis and ARDS in acutely ill patients.
Professor Chris Scott from Queen's School of Pharmacy said: "Through this research we are well on the road to developing a medical treatment for sepsis and ARDS. "Sepsis arises when the body's immune system goes into overdrive, setting off a series of reactions including widespread inflammation.
"A frequent complication of sepsis is ARDS - where the lungs can't provide enough oxygen for the rest of the body. Up to 25 per cent of patients with severe sepsis will develop ARDS and up to half of these patients will die.
"What we have developed is an anti-inflammatory nanoparticle - a microscopic particle that binds itself to cells called 'macrophages', which are often found at the site of an infection. We have found that this nanoparticle essentially blocks inflammation and interrupts the chain of reactions that lead to severe sepsis and ARDS."
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