Preclinical testing for potential quick-to-clinic pharmacotherapies for obstructive sleep apnea

My project aims to discover a treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a disease that affects one billion people in the world. OSA is a serious chronic disorder that happens when a person’s breathing is intermittently interrupted during sleep. This is caused by an obstruction in the airways when muscles in the back of the throat relax too much, blocking respiration. OSA leads to other associated complications like high blood pressure, increased risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes.
Currently, the main treatment for OSA is CPAP, a machine that causes discomfort and anxiety. The treatments available at present are not very effective and high-priced. There are no drugs approved to treat OSA, evidencing that more studies are necessary and urgent.
Therefore, this project aims to test three drug candidates for OSA treatment that focus on the carotid bodies (the main oxygen sensor of the body) nd downstream pathways. As carotid bodies are hyper-activated in OSA, this new therapy is aimed at reducing carotid body sensitivity, and with that, we expect that it will reduce those exaggerated responses, abating OSA.

Faculty Supervisor:

Richard Wilson

Student:

Partner:

Sorbonne Université

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Pharmaceuticals

University:

University of Calgary

Program: