University of Michigan researchers have developed a new diagnostic tool that could help predict a fatal complication in lung transplantation patients. In the complication known as bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), scar tissue builds up in the lungs and chokes off the ability to breathe.
BOS is the leading cause of death for those who survive one year after lung transplantation and more than half of recipients will develop BOS within five years. There is currently no cure.
The new tool could allow doctors to intervene earlier and, ultimately, to provide life-saving treatments.
Vibha Lama, M.D., M.S., an assistant professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, led a team of U-M researchers who recently discovered that patients who had a high number of stem cells in their lungs six months after transplantation were much more likely to develop BOS than those with lower counts.
“Our study provides the first indication of the important role these cells play in both human repair and disease,” Lama says. “It’s very important from the clinical perspective because we didn’t previously have any strong biomarkers for BOS.”
The findings were recently published online ahead of print publication in the
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
The translational study also highlights the importance of the lab-to-bedside cooperation of basic and clinical research, Lama says.
While the exact relationship between the mesenchymal stromal cells and BOS remains unclear, doctors know that most of the cells originate with the donor and not the recipient. Spikes in cell counts are seen shortly after transplantation as the body responds to the injury; those levels usually taper off, but a second rise of cell counts after about six months is linked to a patient’s likelihood of developing BOS.
