Identification of Therapeutics for the Prevention of Sulfur Mustard-Induced Lung Disease

Lovelace-CRCE Research Project 3: Identification of Therapeutics for the Prevention of Sulfur Mustard-Induced Lung Disease

Epidemiologic studies indicate that many individuals develop severe pulmonary disorders including emphysema, airway stenosis, and bronchiolitis obliterans after a single exposure to Sulfur Mustard (SM). Importantly, other studies have indicated that individuals who did not develop acute symptoms of SM exposure still developed severe pulmonary disorders. Currently there are no medical treatments for any of these disorders. Furthermore, there have not been any models established to study the severe pulmonary disorders that are induced by SM exposure of humans.

Accordingly, Research Project 3 has the following goals:

Establish models of SM induced severe pulmonary disease (emphysema, bronchiolitis obliterans, etc.) in rodents
Employ these models to evaluate potential Top Countermeasure Therapeutics (TCTs) to prevent severe pulmonary disease
Use LRRI-established models of emphysema and pulmonary fibrosis to determine whether there is any additional risk of SM exposure to individuals who are either predisposed or already have these pulmonary diseases
Determine whether skin-only SM aerosol exposures induce severe pulmonary disease

These studies should allow us to develop novel animal models of chronic pulmonary disorders and identify potential therapeutics for intervention.