MV interaction with target cells

Contact us

For any enquiries related to Microvesicles in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, please contact

Dr Sanooj Soni
s.soni@imperial.ac.uk 

What we do

We investigate the propagation of lung injury and in critically unwell patients and peri-operative patients. This has predominantly focused upon the role of microvesicles in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Our group is primarily interested in cellular communication and the transfer of inflammatory cargo/milieu between alveolar and pulmonary cells during lung injury as well as pulmonary cells to peripheral organs. We are also currently exploring the role of MVs in COVID-19 induced ARDS and multi-organ failure.

Why it is important


ARDS
Patients with ARDS have a high mortality and consume considerable healthcare resources due to severity of illness and long intensive care stays. Despite intense research, there are no disease modifying therapies for ARDS. There remains an urgent, unmet need for a re-direction in ALI research to identify novel therapeutic targets, which may lead to new treatments.

Perioperative
Each year, over 310 million major surgical cases are performed worldwide with 2.4 million general anaesthetics administered in the UK alone. Postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) occur in up to 33% of cases, significantly increasing short- and long-term mortality and morbidity, and hospital length of hospital stay with its attendant costs. Among various potential causes of PPCs, mechanical ventilation, used during peri- and/or post-operative period with major surgery, is a major contributing factor, as it often produces unphysiological alveolar stretch instigating lung inflammation and injury, a pathophysiology termed as ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). Our understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the pathophysiology of VILI is still primitive resulting in a lack of effective treatments and subsequent poor outcomes.

COVID-19
A significant proportion of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 require intensive care due to ARDS (ARDS) and multi-organ failure (MOF). Indeed, 51.8% COVID-19 ARDS patients develop acute kidney injury (AKI), which has a mortality of 61%. Management remains principally supportive and there remains an urgent need for research investigating mechanisms of respiratory/kidney failure in COVID-19 to identify novel diagnostic/therapeutic targets.  

 

Funders and collaborators

Funders

Funders

Researchers

Dr Sanooj Soni

Dr Sanooj Soni

Professor Masao Takata

Professor Masao Takata

Dr Michael Wilson

Dr Michael Wilson

Dr Kieran O'Dea

Dr Kieran O'Dea

Dr Yoichi Iki

Dr Yoichi Iki

Miss Dane Cheng

Miss Dane Cheng

Miss Sehar Khushi

Miss Sehar Khushi

PhD students

Dr Jonathan Stevens

Dr Jonathan Stevens

Miss Diane Cheng

Miss Diane Cheng