Brittany MacPherson, “Investigation of Nebulized Asthma Treatment on an Inbred Mouse Strain with an Asthma Like Phenotype”
Mentor: Alexander Arnold, Chemistry & Biochemistry

Asthma is one of the most prevalent global health problems, with 300 million humans affected worldwide, among them 26.5 million US residents. The respiratory disease is characterized by chronic airway inflammation leading to air-way remodeling, hyperactivity to external stimuli, and airway obstruction. This study evaluated the use of nebulized drug candidates for asthma in genetically compromised A/J mice. The data was collected via plethysmography using non-invasive airway mechanics. Airway hyperresponsiveness in response to methacholine, a muscarinic receptors agonist, was determined referred to as the specific airway response or sRaw value. Phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) was used as vehicle and investigated first. MIDD0301, a novel drug candidate to treat asthma was investigated as R and S stereoisomer resulting in similar reduction of airway hyperresponsiveness.