Grant: Project Grant

Approximately 3.8 million Canadians are living with asthma, a chronic condition that affects their airways, making it challenging to breathe. While many individuals with asthma can effectively manage their symptoms and maintain normal lung function using inhaled medications, unfortunately, there is a subset of asthma sufferers whose symptoms, lung function, and risk of asthma attacks remain unimproved despite conventional inhaled medications. There could be several reasons for this. One possibility is that inhaled medications fail to reach the intended areas within the lungs, due to structural abnormalities within the airways themselves. Much like road conditions or closures can impede the speed and efficiency of vehicle travel, we think factors such as airway narrowing or mucus blockages, which are common in asthma, can obstruct the passage of inhaled medications through the airways. Our team has now optimized advanced medical imaging techniques, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT), required to investigate this. For the first time, we will use these imaging methods to visually assess and measure individual patients' airways and determine whether abnormal airway structures impact how well they respond to inhaled and orally delivered medications. We anticipate finding that abnormal airway structures make inhaled medications less effective, but that they do not affect the response to oral medications. Knowledge gained from this research is poised to revolutionize our limited understanding about factors underlying the widely variable response of asthma to inhaled therapies. This newfound knowledge will drive improvements in asthma management and the development and delivery of asthma medications. Our efforts are dedicated to reducing the substantial clinical, economic, and quality-of-life burden associated with asthma in Canada, a burden projected to increase by 16% over the next two decades.