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ScienceDirect Editorial overview: Respiratory: Cough: a burning issue Domenico Spina and Clive Page Current Opinion in Pharmacology 2015, 22:iv For a complete overview see the Issue Available online 23rd May 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.coph.2015.05.006 1471-4892/# 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Domenico Spina
Sackler Institute of Pulmonary Pharmacology, Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom e-mail: [email protected] Dr Domenico Spina is Reader in Pharmacology, in the Division of Pharmaceutical Science, King’s College London with interests in the pathophysiology of respiratory disease with a particular emphasis on understanding mechanisms contributing to airway irritability and inflammation. He is a member of the American Thoracic Society, British Pharmacological Society and European Respiratory Society.
Clive Page
Sackler Institute of Pulmonary Pharmacology, Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom e-mail: [email protected] Clive Page is a Professor of Pharmacology, King’s College London and Director of the Sackler Institute of Pulmonary Pharmacology, King’s College London. Clive’s main research interests are in the pharmacology of inflammation and respiratory disease. Clive is also the co-founder of Verona Pharma plc, a Company developing new drugs for the treatment of Respiratory Diseases. He is a Non Executive Director of Babraham Biotechnology Ltd, as well as being a Trustee of the Babraham Institute in Cambridge.
Current Opinion in Pharmacology 2015, 22:iv
A recent survey by the ERS has reported that the vast majority of patients feel that the treatments they take for cough are not effective and current treatment options for chronic cough remain very limited. When the underlying cause of chronic cough is known to be a symptom of an underlying disease, then appropriate treatment can sometimes provide relief. However, there are a considerable number of subjects in whom the cause is not easily identified and such patients are poorly served by current treatments. Not surprisingly therefore chronic cough is increasingly recognized as a clinically unmet need. Recent clinical trials have highlighted the potential beneficial actions of gabapentin, thalidomide and AF-219, the latter a P2X3 receptor antagonist for the treatment of chronic cough. These clinical trials provide some optimism concerning novel approaches for the treatment of cough. This Respiratory section is devoted to our current understanding of the causes of cough including the role played by various ion channels including TRPs, voltage gated sodium channels and Na/K ATPases in the regulation of cough. Consideration is given to our current understanding of the peripheral circuitry involved in cough and in hypertussive syndromes. The potential of exploiting centrally acting drug targets or central suppressive mechanisms is also discussed. Finally, a clinical perspective concerning the current unmet clinical need that is characteristic of this syndrome and the best way to measure cough, the latter of critical importance for the evaluation of the clinical effectiveness of novel anti-tussive agents, is discussed.
ScienceDirect Editorial overview: Respiratory: Cough: a burning issue Domenico Spina and Clive Page Current Opinion in Pharmacology 2015, 22:iv For a complete overview see the Issue Available online 23rd May 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.coph.2015.05.006 1471-4892/# 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Domenico Spina
Sackler Institute of Pulmonary Pharmacology, Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom e-mail: [email protected] Dr Domenico Spina is Reader in Pharmacology, in the Division of Pharmaceutical Science, King’s College London with interests in the pathophysiology of respiratory disease with a particular emphasis on understanding mechanisms contributing to airway irritability and inflammation. He is a member of the American Thoracic Society, British Pharmacological Society and European Respiratory Society.
Clive Page
Sackler Institute of Pulmonary Pharmacology, Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom e-mail: [email protected] Clive Page is a Professor of Pharmacology, King’s College London and Director of the Sackler Institute of Pulmonary Pharmacology, King’s College London. Clive’s main research interests are in the pharmacology of inflammation and respiratory disease. Clive is also the co-founder of Verona Pharma plc, a Company developing new drugs for the treatment of Respiratory Diseases. He is a Non Executive Director of Babraham Biotechnology Ltd, as well as being a Trustee of the Babraham Institute in Cambridge.
Current Opinion in Pharmacology 2015, 22:iv
A recent survey by the ERS has reported that the vast majority of patients feel that the treatments they take for cough are not effective and current treatment options for chronic cough remain very limited. When the underlying cause of chronic cough is known to be a symptom of an underlying disease, then appropriate treatment can sometimes provide relief. However, there are a considerable number of subjects in whom the cause is not easily identified and such patients are poorly served by current treatments. Not surprisingly therefore chronic cough is increasingly recognized as a clinically unmet need. Recent clinical trials have highlighted the potential beneficial actions of gabapentin, thalidomide and AF-219, the latter a P2X3 receptor antagonist for the treatment of chronic cough. These clinical trials provide some optimism concerning novel approaches for the treatment of cough. This Respiratory section is devoted to our current understanding of the causes of cough including the role played by various ion channels including TRPs, voltage gated sodium channels and Na/K ATPases in the regulation of cough. Consideration is given to our current understanding of the peripheral circuitry involved in cough and in hypertussive syndromes. The potential of exploiting centrally acting drug targets or central suppressive mechanisms is also discussed. Finally, a clinical perspective concerning the current unmet clinical need that is characteristic of this syndrome and the best way to measure cough, the latter of critical importance for the evaluation of the clinical effectiveness of novel anti-tussive agents, is discussed.
