Aeolus Pipeline Initiative: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Third party scientific collaboration with National Jewish Medical and Research Center (screening / selection) and Lovelace Respiratory Institute (animal studies).
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is a collective term for diseases characterized by difficulty in expelling air from the lungs. The three diseases most commonly labeled COPD are asthma, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema. According to the National Health Interview Survey taken in 1993, approximately 25 million people in the United States had COPD, including approximately 10 million with asthma, 13 million with chronic bronchitis and 2 million with emphysema. COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States.

Asthma is characterized by acute episodes of difficulty in breathing due to reversible constriction of the airways in the lung. These episodes are initiated by allergies to particular substances, physical conditions (e.g. cold, humidity or exercise), or respiratory infections. Reactive oxygen- and nitrogen-derived free radicals are believed to be involved in the inflammation and airway constriction that is characteristic of an asthma attack. When given by inhalation our compounds reduce markers of airway inflammation in an animal model of allergy-induced asthma attacks.

Chronic bronchitis is an inflammatory and degenerative condition in which the ability of the lung to transfer oxygen to the blood stream is gradually decreased by damage to the lung tissue. Cigarette smoking is the major cause. Much of the damage caused by cigarette smoke and other pollutants is believed to be caused by free radicals. AEOL 10150 reduced the extent of lung tissue damage induced by tobacco smoke in an animal model of chronic bronchitis when administered by inhalation.

There are no treatments that have been shown to slow the progression of COPD. Currently most patients are treated to relieve symptoms, using many of the same compounds that are used to treat asthma.

AEOL 10150 has been shown to decrease lung inflammation and pre-neoplastic changes associated with chronic cigarette smoke inhalation in rats (Free Radical Biology & Medicine, 33:8, 1106, 2002). For example, AEOL 10150 was given by intratracheal instillation to rats exposed to filtered air or cigarette smoke. Exposure to cigarette smoke for 2 d or 8 weeks (6 h/d, 3 d/week) significantly increased the number of cells recovered by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). AEOL 10150 significantly decreased BAL cell numbers in cigarette smoke-exposed rats. Significant reductions in neutrophils were noted at 2 days and macrophages at 8 weeks. Lymphocytes were significantly reduced by AEOL 10150 at both time points. Squamous cell metaplasia following 8 weeks of tobacco smoke exposure was 12% of the total airway epithelial area in animals exposed to tobacco smoke without AEOL 10150, compared with 2% in animals exposed to tobacco smoke, but treated with AEOL 10150 (p < 0.05).