Researchers from the University of Sheffield have found a new inhibitor that reduces lung inflammation and can embrace the solution to treat Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)—a severe ailment. In the ground-breaking study, an international team of researchers intended to develop an inhibitor to an enzyme engaged in fixing oxidated DNA, OGG1.
The research divulged the OGG1 protein prompts inflammation and that the recently developed inhibitor could avert the inflammation’s onset. This is a new method—distinct to other anti-inflammatory drugs available at present—and can also assist to put our own immune system off from targeting itself in ailments such as Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, sepsis, and probably other autoimmune disorders.
Prof. Thomas Helleday, the study lead author, from the Department of Oncology and Metabolism of the University of Sheffield, said, “When oxygen management in our cells goes off beam it can cause harm to our DNA and stimulate our immune system to react. Our immune system is our defense mechanism that generally battles invasion from viruses and bacteria, however, at times it can go wrong and target our own bodies.”
“Segregating an inhibitor that can turn this reaction off is a key step forward and we are actually thrilled about expanding our research to observe if we could not only reduce prevailing inflammation in other parts of the body but also avert inflammation altogether. This would make the path for new, efficient treatments for severe diseases such as sepsis.”
Earlier, Prof. Helleday, formerly from the Karolina Institutet, Sweden, found how inhibitors of poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) can be utilized as a personalized treatment for individuals with BRCA2 mutations—that are observed in both breast and ovarian cancer. The finding, made at the University of Sheffield, has ever since saved several lives and the medicine Lynparza became the foremost treatment to be authorized for cancer individuals with the BRCA gene mutation.