New theory for lung development
9 Jan 2012 by Evoluted New Media
Medical textbooks may need to be re-written after researchers from the University of Leicester put forward a new theory for the development of our lungs, suggesting alveoli are constantly being formed.
Previous research suggested the lungs are fully formed by the age of three, but new research suggests that alveoli continue to be formed as the lungs grow.
Researchers studied over 100 healthy volunteers aged between seven and 21 who underwent a range of breathing tests at Leicester before being whisked away to the University of Nottingham for a special magnetic resonance scan in which they breathed in hyperpolarised helium and held their breath.
“The helium is hyperpolarised, which means that the molecules all line up in one direction and it then behaves like a magnetised gas,” said Dr Manjith Narayanan, a clinical research fellow at Leicester. “Within the scanner, we can measure how the magnetism decays, and this in turn depends on the size of the air sacs which contain the helium.”
The researchers found that there was very little difference in the size of the alveoli across everyone tested – from small children with lung capacities of one litre, to adults with a capacity of four litres.
“If the size of the alveoli are hardly changing, this can only mean one thing – as our lungs increase in size, we must be growing new alveoli,” said Dr Caroline Beardsmore.
Emeritus professor of child health at Leicester, Professor Mike Silverman said the research – published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine – has important implications.
“If we can continue to develop new alveoli beyond early childhood, going on through adolescence, there is the potential for lung repair following injury that was never realised before,” he said.
Silverman said external factors – such as inhaled pollution – could have a negative impact on lung development, and this new research provides a basis for looking at many factors with the potential to impact on lung health in the future.
