The new Back to Basics section: emerging concepts in basic and translational medicine

Abstract

@ERSpublicationsThe #ERJ launches a new Back to Basics section discussing novel concepts in basic science and translational medicine http://ow.ly/y8SL5We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. Albert EinsteinThe European Respiratory Journal (ERJ), the flagship publication of the European Respiratory Society (ERS), is launching a new section on novel concepts in physiology, immunology, biology and translational medicine [1,2]. Within this Back to Basics section, we aim to present cutting edge knowledge and emerging ideas on topics relevant to respiratory medicine. Basic scientific findings represent the essential foundation for advances in clinical medicine, and a close and continuous exchange between basic and clinical scientists is key to improved diagnosis and therapy for our patients. This new section underlines the importance of discussing basic scientific findings and their potential for translation into clinical practice, which will ultimately lead to better patient care.The new Back to Basics section will comprise several formats that comprehensively highlight the different aspects and multifaceted implications of basic science for clinical medicine. These articles will be published back to back with the best original work in respiratory science and medicine in the ERJ, and will include conference reports and summaries, translational reviews, and stand-alone editorials.''Science should thread through all the society's activities'' [3]: one of the major objectives of the ERS is to foster respiratory science and scientific exchange by promoting basic, epidemiological and clinical research in respiratory medicine. Several ERS activities aim to fulfil these objectives, including the Lung Science Conference, in which the very best of international lung science research is presented and discussed between young doctoral and postdoctoral scientists with established investigators. Moreover, ERS research seminars on hot topics bring together researchers from within and outside lung medicine, and are meant to be think tanks on how to develop a specific research field for the future. The ERJ provided conference and seminar reports in the past, and will continue to do so on a regular basis in order to disseminate and multiply major findings and discussions arising from these activities [4][5][6].One of the main pillars of the new Back to Basics section will be translational review articles on basic science topics, which will cover exciting scientific advances in all fields of respiratory medicine and thoracic surgery. Recent developments and novel concepts will be put into context and new strategies, but also limitations and possibly translational gaps, will be outlined for a better understanding of prevention, diagnosis or

Modulation of blood inflammatory markers by benralizumab in patients with eosinophilic airway diseases

“…Benralizumab was also associated with a significant reduction in the expression of genes associated with eosinophils and basophils, with the magnitude of downregulation greater for eosinophil-high vs. eosinophil-low patients. This finding is not unexpected since treatment with benralizumab, as a result of its mechanism of action, directly depletes eosinophils and basophils in the peripheral blood circulation [22, 28]. The selectivity of this depletion with treatment was confirmed on a whole transcriptome level in the peripheral blood of asthma and COPD patients.…”

“…Phase II studies in asthma and COPD established that benralizumab induces depletion of blood eosinophils and basophils [24, 25, 28]. In the severe asthma Phase IIb study, treatment with both benralizumab 20 and 100 mg Q8W resulted in nearly complete depletion of blood eosinophils, which was sustained throughout the treatment period [24].…”

“…In the severe asthma Phase IIb study, treatment with both benralizumab 20 and 100 mg Q8W resulted in nearly complete depletion of blood eosinophils, which was sustained throughout the treatment period [24]. Results of an exploratory analysis of the same study demonstrated that blood basophils (measured using flow cytometry) were also reduced at the end of treatment [28]. Similarly, in the COPD Phase IIa study, benralizumab 100 mg Q8W resulted in nearly complete depletion of blood eosinophils, which was maintained throughout the treatment period [25].…”

The ambition of theEuropean Respiratory Journal: chapter 3

“…Back to Basics, with Melanie Königshoff (Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Germany) at the helm, aims to improve the integration of basic science into the ERJ, bringing together translational reviews, conference reports and editorials, and helping to educate our clinical readers in the science underpinning their medicine, both now and in the future [5]. The first three Back to Basics reviews covered subjects as diverse as EGFR signalling [6], medical nanoparticles [7] and the latest advances in our knowledge of CFTR dysfunction [8].…”

The need for coordination of research activities in pediatric lung diseases

“…The DGKJ invited frontiers in science covering important aspects of pediatric lung diseases to discuss their latest research findings with clinical experts in the field. The discussion of recent results from animal models and from molecular studies emphasized the need for an earlier and better exchange between basic research and clinical challenges of pediatrics to promote the translation of experimental results to patient care (and back) which was also recently promoted, i.e., by the scientific journal of the European Respiratory Society [ 3 ]. All together, the symposium demonstrated impressively the relevant similarities and overlaps of pathomechanisms between the broad spectrum of pediatric lung diseases which arouse from completely different origins including inborn, acquired, genetic, and environmental factors.…”