Proof-of-concept study identifies multiple protein biomarkers with potential to test for obstructive airway disease, including asthma and COPD. The results of the study were presented at the 27th Lorne Proteomics Symposium, Victoria, the annual conference of the Australasian Proteomics Society (see copy of presentation linked below, titled: Protein Biomarkers of Obstructive Airway Disease).
Clinical Professor Alan James, a consultant respiratory physician and chair of the Busselton Population Medical Research Institute, said doctors currently use physiological tests to diagnose and assess severity of airway disease. “These tests of lung function and structure are useful in investigating common symptoms such as cough and breathlessness. However they do not necessarily reflect the various underlying pathologies which cause abnormal structure and function and which may respond differently to different treatments.”