Study Reveals Drugs Used to Cure Lung Diseases Works With Body Clock

Medication to treat asthma and pneumonia becomes ineffective as the drug works with the body clock, a new finding reveals.

Researchers at the University of Manchester have finally solved the mystery as to why medication to treat asthma and pneumonia become ineffective.

Led by Professor David Ray and Andrew Loudon, the team discovered that cells lining the airways in the lungs have their own body clock. It is this body clock that works as a time-keeper for lung inflammation - the condition that causes swelling in the lungs.

Pneumonia is infection of the lungs that triggers mild to severe illness in people of all ages. It is listed as one of the leading causes of death among children younger than 5 years of age worldwide. According to the World Pneumonia Day, in 2012 alone 1.1 million children died from this preventable and treatable illness, accounting for 17% of child mortality.

On the other hand, Asthma affects the airways that carry air to and from lungs and an estimated of 34 million people in the U.S. suffer from it. Asthma cost the U.S. about $56 billion.

The researchers discovered that when the body clock in these cells stops functioning, they lead to severe lung inflammation.

Professor Loudon said: "We found a key molecule known as CXCL5 that facilitates lung inflammation which is a key regulator of how immune cells get into tissues. The loss of CXCL5 completely prevents the time of day regulation of lung inflammation which opens up new ways to treat lung diseases."

They found out that it is the glucocorticoid hormone from the adrenal gland that plays an important role in controlling the level of inflammation in the cells lining the airway.

Professor Ray said: "This hormone works through the glucocorticoid receptor, a major regulator of gene expression. We wanted to find out therefore if glucocorticoid medicines, like prednisolone or dexamethasone would also show a time of day effect, and our research shows they do."

The researchers concluded that it is the rhythm of the clock in the lining of the cells in the lungs is crucial for lung diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The findings was published in Nature Medicine.