Measurement of Smoking-Induced Neutrophil Activation
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2006-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Neutrophil involvement in the development of COPD by smokers is well recognised. However not
all smokers develop overt lung disease. We have previously shown that uptake of FDG is
related to neutrophil activity and can be measured by PET and that uptake is greater in COPD
patients than normal subjects. We have also shown that FDG-PET shows inflammatory changes in
asymptomatic smokers after cigarette smoking. We plan to investigate the attenuation of this
inflammation by steroid tablets and whether FDG PET can demonstrate this. We also wish to
establish if similar changes are demonstrated after smoking by COPD patients.