Transplanting patients’ own lung cells helped repair tissue damage from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a small preliminary trial, researchers reported on Tuesday at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Milan. COPD, often caused by smoking, includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
In 17 patients with emphysema, doctors used a small brush to collect so-called P63+ progenitor cells from the airways.
“P63+ progenitor cells are known for their ability to regenerate the tissues of the airways, and previously we and other scientists have shown in animal experiments that they can repair the damaged epithelial tissue in the alveoli – the tiny air sacs in the lungs that play a crucial role in the exchange of gases between air breathed in and the blood supply to the lungs,” study leader Wei Zuo of Tongji University’s School of Medicine and Regend Therapeutics in China, said in a statement.
Zuo’s team cloned the progenitor cells to create millions more and then transplanted them back into the patients’ lungs to repair the damaged lung tissue. Twelve weeks later, the body’s ability to transfer oxygen from air sacs in the lungs to the red blood cells in the lungs’ blood vessels had on average increased to 40%, from a baseline of 30%, the researchers found.
The benefit still was present at 24 weeks, they reported.
“We found that P63+ progenitor cell transplantation not only improved the lung function of patients with COPD, but also relieved their symptoms, such as shortness of breath, loss of exercise ability and persistent coughing,” Zuo said.
Roughly a third of the study participants had severe COPD and more than half had extremely severe COPD, Zuo said. Lung damage in COPD is typically permanent, but in two participants with mild disease, the treatment repaired the damage, Zuo added.
Zuo’s team is planning additional trials to test the treatment in larger groups of patients.
“We hope to develop the treatment for clinical use within about two to three years,” Zuo said.
