Adding Chinese herbal medicine to antibiotic treatment for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Over 25 million people in China had Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in 2010, and this isprojected to increase to over 42 million by 2020. Every year, the average COPD patient experiences 2-3 severeepisodes called "acute exacerbations" (AECOPD). These are often caused by bacteria and treated withantibiotics, but many of these bacteria (especially in China) no longer respond to the commonest antibiotics,leading to prolonged hospital admissions and more deaths. Shufung Jiedu (SJ), a Traditional Chinese Medicineconsisting of 8 traditional Chinese herbs, is already on the market in China. Preliminary research suggests that itcan reduce risk of hospitalisation and duration of hospitalisation in patients with AECOPD, and so it couldreduce the risk of antibiotic resistance. In this project we will conduct research in parallel in the UK and Chinato test the effect of SJ in tackling antibiotic resistance in AECOPD, both in laboratory models and in clinicaltrials. If successful, the results will support the inclusion of SJ in guidelines for the treatment for AECOPD bothin China and in the UK, which will open up a very large market for the product.