Role of Oxidative and Nitrative Stress and Histone De-acetylation in Rhinovirus Induced Acute Exacerbations of COPD

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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or smokers? lung is a growing problem and already one of the commonest causes of death and disability in the UK. COPD accounts for over #800 million in direct healthcare costs. Seventy percent of these costs are related to acute attacks. Acute attacks are also dreaded by COPD sufferers, as they lead to severe breathlessness, prolonged hospitalisation or death. Current therapies are not good at either treatment or prevention of acute attacks. New approaches to therapy are therefore urgently needed. COPD is associated with inflammation in the lung, which gets worse as the disease progresses. Acute attacks also involve inflammation in the lung but how this occurs is very poorly understood. Most acute attacks are caused by common cold viruses, which ?go to the chest?. We plan to carry out detailed studies of virus induced acute attacks of COPD, to understand the molecules switching on inflammation in the lung during these attacks. By identifying the molecules that increase lung inflammation during these attacks, we should be able to identify targets for the development of new therapies for both prevention and treatment of acute attack of COPD. So doing would greatly reduce distress suffered by COPD patients, as well as reducing mortality and health care costs.