Findings from the Max Delbrück Center and the Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin have been published in the European Respiratory Journal stating that a triple combination therapy can improve CF symptoms in numerous patients.
Also as noted in Science Daily, several years ago Charité worked with a group of CF patients and reported that the treatment caused a significant improvement in lung function.
Professor Marcus Mall headed both projects. The Professor indicated that for the team will investigate whether this type of treatment can be helpful over a 12-month period or longer. The research team will examine respiratory tract secretions. As expected, since the airways do not contain sufficient water the mucus-forming molecules cause sticky, thick mucus and clog the airways.
Breathing is difficult leading to inflammation and bacterial infections in the lungs. An imbalance in salt and water as it is transported across mucosal areas of the body creates thick, sticky harmful secretions in the lungs, intestines, and pancreas.
The research team involved with the latest study found that the combination of three drugs causes less viscous secretions, bacterial infection, and respiratory inflammation in CF patients’ lungs. More importantly, the effects of the drugs remained constant for a one-year period. Such revelation is encouraging as medications used previously increased the bacterial load in the patient’s airways.
A New Approach to Treating CF
Prof. Mall went on to explain the group’s intention of beginning treatment in early childhood hoping to stem chronic changes in the lungs as early as possible. He said the emphasis would be on addressing CF through the molecular defects that are causing the disease and continuing to perfect the triple aforementioned three-drug combination. He noted that about 10% of patients are currently unable to acquire treatments because of their genetic makeup.
Prof. Mall further explained that the teams are striving to make inroads into the development of mucolytics which are drugs that will thin and loosen mucus.
