Study on lung development carried out

15 Dec 2008

Cardiff University researchers have carried out a study on mice that could help encourage lung growth in babies.

The study, published in the Journal of Physiology, has found that a well-known molecule, the calcium receptor, has a key role in lung development.

Professor Paul Kemp, the author of the study, said: "The really exciting thing about the calcium receptor is that there are already drugs available that can alter its function.

"If we can show that one of these drugs can modulate the action of the calcium receptor in the lung, it could be used to mature the lungs of a very premature baby as it grows."

Babies at risk of being born early are often treated with steroids and he added that any new lung development drug could be given alongside them.

Researchers in the study manipulated lung development by interrupting receptor function and it was found that the calcium receptor switches on the growth of lungs.

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