(thoughtful music)
-: Asthma affects over 300 million people worldwide
and each year is responsible for nearly
a quarter of a million premature deaths.
In the United States, severe asthmatics,
despite only representing five to 10%
of the asthmatic population
are responsible for half of the 58 billion dollars
occurred in asthma-related healthcare costs annually.
In our state of Mississippi, we rank first and second
for childhood and severe asthma,
and fourth for asthma mortality.
We also have a population of horses
suffering from a severe asthma-like disease.
There's a critical and immediate need
to address the severe asthma phenotype
and develop new therapies.
Thus, my project looked at magnesium sulfate
to do just that.
Now magnesium sulfate, or what you may
more commonly know as Epsom salts
were a drug first used to preterm labor contractions
by relaxing the smooth muscle in the uterus.
There is evidence this drug also relaxes
airway smooth muscle during an asthma attack,
but it has not yet been adopted in the standard of care
for emergency asthma treatment.
Why is that?
Well in order to test the solo effects of this drug,
other drugs known to to reverse asthma
would have to be withheld,
and this is ethically impossible.
But with our population of asthmatic horses,
we were able to ask the question,
"Does intravenous magnesium sulfate
"relax the airways in the absence of other drugs?"
To do so, we delivered three different doses
of magnesium sulfate intravenously
to seven of our horses experiencing a severe asthma attack.
To analyze the data, we asked our horses
to swallow an esophageal balloon
and wear a pulmonary function mask.
The mask evaluates air flow
and the balloon in the esophagus
undergoes the same pressures required
to inflate and deflate the lung.
What we can see from my graph
is that each of the three doses
of magnesium sulfate during the IV drip
rapidly and effectively
open and relax the airways.
Now, during the 30 minute withdrawal period
where we observe the horses
we did see the pressures rise,
but they still remain significantly reduced from baseline.
Thus proving that magnesium sulfate as a drug
effective in treating asthmatic patients.
Data previously generated in our lab
says that our horses respond to drugs
in a manner analogous to that of human asthmatics.
Now, despite magnesium sulfate's short action,
it does prove effective
with conjunctive use of inhaled therapies.
Due to magnesium sulfate's ability to open the airways,
inhaled therapies will be better able
to penetrate into the distal airways,
known for perpetuating a severe asthma attack.
Thus, my research proves magnesium sulfate
is effective as a monotherapy,
and that there is strong rationale
for its implementation into the emergency asthma therapies
and treatments for both horse and human asthmatics.
(harmonious music)