Skip to content Skip to navigation menu 19 February 2013
Hundreds of tiny fungal particles found in the lungs of asthma
sufferers could offer new clues in the development of new
treatments, according to a team of Cardiff University
scientists. In the first large study of its type, published in
the journal, BMC Infectious Diseases, a team of researchers from
Cardiff University’s School of Medicine have uncovered large
numbers of fungi present in healthy lungs. "Historically, the
lungs were thought to be sterile," according to Dr Hugo van
Woerden from Cardiff University’s Institute of Primary Care and
Public Health, who led the research. "Our analysis found that
there are large numbers of fungi present in healthy human lungs.
The study also demonstrates that asthma patients have a large
number of fungi in their lungs and that the species of fungi are
quite different to those present in the lungs of healthy
individuals," he added. By examining the mucus or sputum of
patients with and without asthma, the team fou