Pulmonary Inflammation Group
WHO WE ARE
Clinical and biomedical science researchers with a particular interest in diseases of the airways and lungs, especially asthma; also chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer.
WHAT WE DO
The major theme of research in this group is the study of inflammatory mediators in the pathogenesis of asthma and other lung diseases, including mechanisms of development of disease, clinically useful markers of inflammation, and novel approaches to intervention. The investigators provide complementary expertise, facilitating both pre-clinical and clinical investigation. Projects include: mechanisms underlying inflammation and airway wall remodelling in animal models of chronic asthma and acute exacerbations of asthma; the influence of early-life infections and environmental injury in an animal model of the pathogenesis of childhood asthma; and studies of potential therapeutic interventions in asthma. Translational research is a particular focus of the group, notably with respect to breath analysis of oxidative stress and other markers of disease activity, especially in asthma, but also COPD and lung cancer.
FUNDING & MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
The group is currently supported by multiple grants from NHMRC, ARC and Asthma NSW.
MAJOR RESEARCHERS
FURTHER INFORMATION
Other team members:
Dr Melissa Bunting (Post-Doctoral Scientist)
Ms Jessica Siegle (Post-Doctoral Scientist)
Ms Stina Nikolaysen (Research Assistant)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Temelkovski J, Hogan SP, Shepherd DP, Foster PS,
Kumar RK. An improved murine model of asthma: selective airway inflammation, epithelial lesions and increased methacholine responsiveness following chronic exposure to aerosolised allergen.
Thorax 1998; 53:849-56.
Yates DH, Breen H, Thomas PS. Passive smoke inhalation decreases exhaled nitric oxide in normal subjects. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2001;164:1043-6.
Kumar RK, Herbert C, Yang M, Koskinen AML, McKenzie ANJ, Foster PS. Role of interleukin-13 in eosinophil accumulation and airway remodelling in a mouse model of chronic asthma. Clin. Exp. Allergy 2002; 32:1104-11.
Heywood G, Thomas PS. Effects of inhaled tumor necrosis factor in subjects with mild asthma. Thorax 2002; 57: 774-8.
Kumar RK, Foster PS. Modeling allergic asthma in mice: pitfalls and opportunities. Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. 2002; 27:267-72.
Kumar RK, Herbert C, Thomas PS, Wollin L, Beume R, Yang M, Webb DC, Foster PS. Inhibition of inflammation and remodeling by roflumilast and dexamethasone in murine chronic asthma. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 2003; 307:349-55.
Kumar RK, Herbert C, Webb DC, Li L, Foster PS. Effects of anti-cytokine therapy in a mouse model of chronic asthma. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2004; 170:1043-8.
Bruce C, Thomas PS. The effect of marimastat, a metalloprotease inhibitor, on allergen-induced asthmatic hyper-reactivity. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 2005; 205:126-32.
Thomas PS, Gibson PG, Wang H, Shah S, Henry RL. The relationship of exhaled nitric oxide to airway inflammation and responsiveness in children. J. Asthma. 2005; 42:291-5.
Wei XM, Kim HS, Kumar RK, Heywood GJ, Hunt JE, McNeil HP, Thomas PS. Effects of cigarette smoke on degranulation and NO production by mast cells and epithelial cells. Respir. Res. 2005;6:108.
Siegle JS, Hansbro N, Herbert C, Yang M, Foster PS, Kumar RK. Airway hyperreactivity in exacerbation of chronic asthma is independent of eosinophilic inflammation. Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. 2006; 35:565-70.
Jackson AS, Sandrini A, Campbell C, Chow S, Thomas PS, Yates DH. Comparison of biomarkers in exhaled breath condensate and bronchoalveolar lavage. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2007;175:222-7.
Ito K, Herbert C, Siegle J, Vuppusetty C, Hansbro N, Thomas PS, Foster PS, Barnes PJ, Kumar RK. Steroid-resistant neutrophilic inflammation in a mouse model of an acute exacerbation of asthma. Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. 2008; 39: 543-550.
Herbert C, Hettiaratchi A, Webb DC, Thomas PS, Foster PS, Kumar RK. Suppression of cytokine expression by roflumilast and dexamethasone in a mouse model of chronic asthma. Clin. Exp. Allergy 2008; 38:847-56.
Ratnawati, Morton J, Henry RL, Thomas PS. Mediators in exhaled breath condensate after hypertonic saline challenge. J. Asthma. 2009;46:1045-51.
Yang M, Kumar RK, Foster PS. Pathogenesis of steroid-resistant airway hyperresponsiveness: Interaction between IFN- and TLR4/MyD88 pathways. J. Immunol. 2009; 182: 5107-15.
Siegle JS, Hansbro N, Herbert C, Rosenberg HF, Domachowske JB, Asquith KL, Foster PS, Kumar RK. Early-life viral infection and allergen exposure interact to induce an asthmatic phenotype in mice. Respir. Res. 2010; 11:14.
Park EK, Thomas PS, Creaney J, Johnson AR, Robinson BW, Yates DH. Factors affecting soluble mesothelin related protein levels in an asbestos-exposed population. Clin. Chem. Lab. Med. 2010;48869-74.
Chan HP, Tran V, Lewis C, Thomas PS. Lung Cancer: Elevated levels of oxidative stress markers in exhaled breath condensate. J. Thor. Oncol. 2009; 4:172-8.
Lin JL, Thomas PS. Current perspectives of oxidative stress and its measurement in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. COPD 2010 ;7:291-306.
Herbert C, Scott MM, Scruton KH, Keogh RP, Yuan KC, Hsu K, Siegle JS, Tedla N, Foster PS and Kumar RK. Alveolar macrophages stimulate enhanced cytokine production by pulmonary CD4+ T lymphocytes in an exacerbation of murine chronic asthma. Am. J. Pathol. 2010 2010; 177:1657-64.