Pitt Researchers to Test New COPD Treatment

By Allison M. Heinrichs

University of Pittsburgh researchers say they have made a breakthrough in the fight against chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States.

The Pitt pulmonary specialists report that they’ve found solid evidence that COPD is an autoimmune disease that occurs when a person’s immune system attacks the cells that line the airways and air sacs of the lungs. Patients are being enrolled in a clinical trial of an inhaled immune-suppressant drug, called cyclosporine, that could lead to a better treatment.

“COPD is responsible for 120,000 deaths a year,” Dr. Frank C. Sciurba, director of Pitt’s Emphysema Research Center, said in a news release. “Available treatments, including inhaled bronchodilators, have little effect on disease progression. New information learned may help us to develop better treatments and perhaps even halt disease progression.”

Sciurba co-authored the study with senior author Dr. Steven R. Duncan, a professor in Pitt’s School of Medicine. The results, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, will be discussed today at the Pittsburgh International Lung Conference at the Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown.

COPD is commonly related to smoking that diminishes breathing capacity over time and includes conditions such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema. About 12 million adults have been diagnosed with COPD, with an additional 12 million unaware that they have the disease, according to the National Institutes of Health. It is the second-leading cause of disability in the United States.

Patients with severe COPD interested in additional information about the clinical trial may call the Emphysema Research Center at 412-692-4800.

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