Immune response in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Inside the Thanavala Lab, we’re making breakthroughs in understanding the connections between the immune system and COPD-associated lung inflammation.
Smoking- and vaping-induced immunosuppression
My laboratory has established and extensively validated a mouse model to study chronic pulmonary inflammation caused by exposure to cigarette smoke, secondhand smoke, electronic cigarettes, non-combustible tobacco products, and more recently cannabis.
Using this mouse model, we have interrogated the immune response to respiratory infection and vaccination and studied the contribution of smoking- and vaping-induced immunosuppression. These studies have real-world consequences.
New England Journal of MedicineThe LancetThorax
Immune dysfunction and viral infections
We’re also interested in understanding the effects of chronic inflammation and resulting global immune dysfunction in patients with COPD and patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) due to unresolved viral infections caused by hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses.
In patients with advanced HCC, we’ve been studying how treatment with the FDA-approved drug sorafenib can improve dysfunction in immune cells. We’ve found that in a subset of patients this translates to improvement in overall survival or progression-free survival of cancer.
Using immune cells from blood samples obtained from patients with COPD, we have conclusively demonstrated that T regulatory cells contribute to effector T cell dysfunction in these patients correlating with frequent pulmonary bacterial infections.
Over the years our studies have contributed substantially to understanding the level of immune dysfunction in COPD patients (current and former smokers) and demonstrated a network of immunosuppression in these patients.
Connect with the Thanavala Lab
Department of Immunology
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Elm and Carlton Streets
Buffalo, NY 14263