Assessing the Expression and the Activity of Rac1 Protein in the Airway Smooth Muscle of Asthmatic Patient

Summary

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory respiratory disease affecting 6 to 7% of the French adult population and responsible of 1000 deaths in France every year. Many anti-inflammatory treatments are available but few had been developed to target hyperresponsiveness.Investigators and searchers of the Institut du thorax have recently demonstrated the main involvement of Rac1 monomeric G protein in the contraction of airway smooth muscle cells. They show that Rac1 is expressed in the airway smooth muscle cells in mice and its activity is increased in the bronchi of asthma induced mice sensitized to House-Dust Mite. They further demonstrate that Rac1 inhibition in mice by nebulisation reduces airway hyperresponsiveness and pulmonary inflammation. Investigators and searchers of the Institut du thorax would like to seek whether targeting Rac1 would be interesting in asthmatic patients. Primary objective of this study is to determine if Rac1 expression and activity in airway smooth muscle cells are increased in asthmatic patients compare to controlled samples (deceased donor samples). Secondary objective is to determine whether there is a correlation between Rac1 activity and asthma severity.

If Rac1 activity in airway smooth muscles is indeed increased in asthmatic patients depending on asthma severity, Rac1 could be a potential target to treat airway hyperresponsiveness.

Conditions

• Asthma

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Bronchial endoscopy

Bronchial endoscopy will be performed after clinical examination and pulmonary function tests

PROCEDURE

Bronchial biopsies

5 biopsies will be done and analysed at the end of recruiting to assess monomeric GTP Rac1 protein expression and activity on bronchial biopsies

PROCEDURE

Bronchial alveolar enema

For participants who had signed ancillary research consent

Sponsors & Collaborators

• L'institut du thorax - INSERM UMR 1087 / CNRS UMR6291 - IRS-Université de Nantes

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• IRSR-PL : Institut de Recherche en Santé Respiratoire des Pays de La Loire

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Nantes University Hospital

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

70 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-03-05

Primary Completion

2023-11-10

Completion

2023-11-17

Countries

• France

Study Locations