Scientist gains funds for research into crippling lung disease
A Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) scientist is tackling silicosis – a lung disease described as the ‘new asbestosis’ – by testing a hormone that may form the first effective treatment for it.
Silicosis, an occupational lung disease caused by breathing in silica dust, is an emerging epidemic in Australia. It is incurable.
Dr Jane Bourke, an expert in lung disease, has been awarded seed funding to investigate whether the hormone relaxin can help patients with silicosis. The project builds on Dr Bourke’s larger research program examining relaxin for the treatment of asthma, recently funded by the NHMRC. The funding for the silicosis studies is being provided by Maurice Blackburn, a law firm with a long history of representing those with lung diseases resulting from workplace exposure.
Silica-induced lung inflammation and fibrosis are associated with shortness of breath, coughing, respiratory infections, fatigue and chest pain, and are potentially lethal.
Silicosis has been identified in Australia in the last three years, affecting stone benchtop fabricators. The outbreak is believed to be primarily due to the increasing use of artificial stone, a very high silica-containing material, for the production of kitchen and bathroom benchtops.
Initial results of screening in Queensland suggested that 30 per cent of workers involved in cutting and grinding the artificial stone are affected by the disease.
Dr Bourke is collaborating with Monash School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine research fellow and respiratory physician Dr Ryan Hoy, who is leading the call for respiratory health screening of all workers in the industry.
“In some of these workplaces, proper practice may not have been met in terms of wearing protective masks and wetting the stone to reduce airborne particles,” Dr Bourke said.
“It’s an emerging occupational disaster,” she said.
Very small silica particles inhaled deep in the lungs can set off a series of biological processes that result in scarring to the lungs which progressively builds up restricting the airways and making it difficult to breathe. Silicosis also increases susceptibility to tuberculosis and increases the risk of lung cancer.
Like asbestosis, which has killed thousands of Australians, silicosis can emerge decades after the tradesman or home renovator is first exposed to it.
There are currently no effective treatments to halt the progression of the disease.
Dr Bourke will test the effects of relaxin, a pregnancy hormone, on lung fibrosis caused by silica. Relaxin, which has been cleared for safety in clinical trials, has previously been shown to have anti-fibrotic effects in the kidney and heart and in some other type of lung fibrosis not caused by silica.
Previous research by Dr Bourke in animal models showed that relaxin relaxes the airways making it easier to breathe. Relaxin had also been shown by other Monash researchers to reverse established lung fibrosis in animal models of asthma.
Dr Bourke said the current research, involving Honours student Claudia Sim, would use fluid taken from the lungs of people with silicosis and human lung fibroblasts to test whether relaxin could prevent the progression of the disease.
A lung researcher since 2000 and a leader in her field, Dr Bourke was recently made a Fellow of the Thoracic Society of Australia & New Zealand, the peak professional body for respiratory researchers and clinicians.
About the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute
Committed to making the discoveries that will relieve the future burden of disease, the newly established Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute at Monash University brings together more than 120 internationally-renowned research teams. Our researchers are supported by world-class technology and infrastructure, and partner with industry, clinicians and researchers internationally to enhance lives through discovery.