2014TP001 - Assessing the Biology of the Injured Lung - Version 1

Assessing the Biology of the Injured Lung - Version 1

Respiratory diseases are very common and are the third leading cause of death in England. As such, there is strong interest in understanding how respiratory disease occurs.

This study intends to understand the changes that occur within diseased/injured lungs obtained from humans. The end goal of this will be to create new drugs to help treat these disorders.

Diseased lungs will be obtained from patients receiving a lung transplant. Lungs will either be placed onto a heart-lung machine, or surgically cut in order to create a model of the lung that can be used experimentally in the laboratory. Using a heart-lung machine, lungs can be maintained outside of the human body for a maximum of 12 hours, allowing the direct assessment of the organ. Using this procedure, we aim to understand the processes that occur within a disease, as well as during repair. Using the model of the lung, we will look at how the body's immune system interacts within a diseased lung.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients must be able to provide informed consent
• Patients must be aged between 18-80 years of age

Exclusion Criteria:

-Patients under 16 or over 70 years of age