Eureka moment offers hope of cystic fibrosis cure

[muriel_volestrangler]

Stuart Gordon (pictured above above) died 18 years ago, at the age of 23. His parents have steadfastly fundraised for Dr Mehta and his research ever since. Two weeks ago, the good doctor - now leading the research at the amazing microbiology centre in Dundee University Medical School - emailed me, telling me that the nasal cells had hit their mark and that he and a consortium of Italian and French researchers had had a eureka moment.

Until very recently, cystic fibrosis research for most patients had endlessly drawn a blank. Anil Mehta met his Italian opposite number who was working with a leading French scientist at a conference some four years ago. The Italian expert had found a drug that is used in a completely unrelated disease that cleared the debris that destroys the lung in a patient with cystic fibrosis. His approach amazed Dr Mehta because it was totally new to the field.

But this wasn’t enough. Dr Mehta’s team already had a totally different drug, based on nasal cells, which had reversed the environment in the cystic fibrosis cell present as they regenerated that tissue. They next approached a doctor in Naples who applied the two drugs together to 10 humans, nine of whom no longer display the hallmarks of the disease after only two months of therapy.

The cystic fibrosis mice that they have trialled it upon have provided the same results when measured against dummy drugs. Now all that these teams require is £1.3m to carry out a fully comprehensive trial on 120 sufferers. There is now real hope of a new effective approach for babies and children with this disease.

http://blogs.channel4.com/snowblog/eureka-moment-offers-hope-cystic-fibrosis-cure/24757

What with nasal nerve cells helping reconnect spinal injuries, the nose is a fascinating area for research.

[Sienna86]

1. Wonderful, amazing research results.

Thanks for sharing.

[Orrex]

2. k / r

Amazing news!