Other studies

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are very small molecules that are produced as part of our normal body function. But if these ROS accumulate it can lead to oxidative stress. Oxidative stress causes damage to the cells in our body.

 

You may have heard of anti-oxidants. For example, they are found in tea, fruit, vegetables etc and also naturally in our bodies. Anti-oxidants help clean up the extra ROS in our body. This stops oxidative stress. One part of anti-oxidant defence is a molecule called glutathione. We know that in cystic fibrosis the amount of glutathione is reduced. We think that this may mean there may be more oxidative stress in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis because they don't have as much glutathione.

 

In cystic fibrosis we think oxidative stress may be one reason why we see damage in the lung. We can measure oxidative stress by looking at levels of different molecules. We think we can do this by looking in urine and in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. If we can measure lung damage by oxdiative stress in urine, this will give us a way to easily and frequently monitor children's progress.

 

We want to find a way we can measure oxidative stress in cystic fibrosis and determine how damage is being caused. In the future we would like to conduct intervention trials using antioxidant therapy.