A new treatment was recently announced that could help asthmatics fight the infections that trigger approximately 80% of their asthma attacks.  Details of the treatments, developed by University of Southampton spin-out company Synairgen, were presented September 2, 2012 to European respiratory experts.

The study shows the first evidence that increasing an asthma patient's immune system can help to reduce the number of asthma attacks caused by the common cold and other viral infections.  There are currently around 5.4 million asthmatic people in the UK.

The study was led by Professor Ratko Djukanovic, a respiratory specialist at the University of Southampton and Southampton General Study.  The findings were presented in Vienna at the European Respiratory Society's annual congress.

Professor Djukanovic explained, "We have demonstrated the potential of a treatment, simply breathed in by the patient, which significantly reduces worsening of asthma symptoms and the patient's need to use their asthma inhaler in response to common cold infections.  By presenting an immune system protein molecule, interferon beta, to the patient's lung we can prime their body to challenge infections more effectively."

The professor is the director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Southampton Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, one of 20 similar site participating in the trial and a partnership between the University of Southampton and the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, funded by NIHR.

Professor Djukanovic went on to say that Southampton researchers worked alongside asthma patients and discovered that weakened immunity among the asthmatics was key to viral impacts.  The study participants are now helping the researchers confirm that discovery and translate the information into treatments that will benefit the lives and health of asthmatic patients.

Leading international asthma specialist Professor Stephen Holgate, CBE, called the research results a promising breakthrough for future treatment and one of the most exciting developments in years.  He goes on to say the accumulated body of evidence from the findings suggests that inhaled interferon beta may have the potential to "be used as a powerful broad spectrum intiviral respiratory drug in lung diseases such as COPD and pandemic flu."

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