Interstitial lung diseases and sarcoidosis

Why was this group formed?
Many Interstitial Lung Diseases and Sarcoidosis (ILDS) are devastating progressive diseases with a poor prognosis. Treatment options are still limited and prolonging life at an acceptable quality is what most people strive for.

What is the overall aim?
As European Expert Centre for ILDS and as Erasmus MC Academic Centre of Excellence for ILDS, we aim to seamlessly integrate patient care and research. Currently the ILDS research group consists of two postdocs and seven PhD candidates. We aim to solve one of the main problems in drug development: the lack of clinical meaningful and feasible endpoints. We aim to come to predictive, preventive, participating and personalized medicine. To achieve this, our research is focused on studying disease mechanisms, incorporating new techniques such as e-health and engaging patients.

What type of research do you focus on in this group?
Our research program uniquely combines fundamental, translational and clinical research based on close multi-disciplinary collaborations, both within our hospital and with national and international centers. Our pre-clinical research focuses on the role of the immune system in development and progression of ILDS, where the clinical research focuses on outcome measures and patient engagement.

Clinical publications:

1. Flaherty KR, Fell CD, Huggins JT, Nunes H, Sussman R, Valenzuela C, Petzinger U, Stauffer JL, Gilberg F, Bengus M, Wijsenbeek M. Safety of nintedanib added to pirfenidone treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Eur Respir J. 2018 Aug 2;52(2).
2. Moor CC, Van Manen MJG, Tak NC, Van Noort E, Wijsenbeek MS. Development and feasibility of an eHealth tool for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Eur Respir J. 2018 Mar 29; 51(3).
3. Kreuter M, Bendstrup E, Russell AM, Bajwah S, Lindell K, Adir Y, Brown CE, Calligaro G, Cassidy N, Corte TJ, Geissler K, Hassan AA, Johannson KA, Kairalla R, Kolb M, Kondoh Y, Quadrelli S, Swigris J, Udwadia Z, Wells A, Wijsenbeek M. Palliative care in interstitial lung disease: living well. Lancet Respir Med. 2017 Dec;5(12):968-980
4. Birring SS, Wijsenbeek MS, Agrawal S, van den Berg JWK, Stone H, Maher TM, Tutuncu A, Morice AH. A novel formulation of inhaled sodium cromoglicate (PA101) in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and chronic cough: a randomised, double-blind, proof-of-concept, phase 2 trial. Lancet Respir Med. 2017 Oct;5(10):806-815
5. Bonella F, Wijsenbeek M, Molina-Molina M, Duck A, Mele R, Geissler K, Wuyts W. European IPF Patient Charter: unmet needs and a call to action for healthcare policymakers. Eur Respir J. 2016 Feb;47(2):597-606.

Pre-clinical publications:

1. Broos CE, van Nimwegen M, In 't Veen JC, Hoogsteden HC, Hendriks RW*, van den Blink B*, Kool M* (2015). Decreased Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Antigen 4 Expression on Regulatory T Cells and Th17 Cells in Sarcoidosis: Double Trouble? Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 192:763-765.
2. Ramstein J, Broos CE, Simpson LJ, Ansel KM, Sun SA, Ho ME, Woodruff PG, Bhakta NR, Christian L, Nguyen CP, Antalek BJ, Benn BS, Hendriks RW, van den Blink B, Kool M, Koth LL (2016). IFN-γ-Producing T-Helper 17.1 Cells Are Increased in Sarcoidosis and Are More Prevalent than T-Helper Type 1 Cells. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 193:1281-1291.
3. Miedema JR, Kaiser Y, Broos CE, Wijsenbeek MS, Grunewald J, Kool M (2018). Th17-lineage cells in pulmonary sarcoidosis and Löfgren's syndrome: Friend or foe? J Autoimmun. 87:82-96.
4. Broos CE, Koth LL, van Nimwegen M, In 't Veen JCCM, Paulissen SMJ, van Hamburg JP, Annema JT, Heller-Baan R, Kleinjan A, Hoogsteden HC, Wijsenbeek MS, Hendriks RW, van den Blink B, Kool M (2018). Increased T-helper 17.1 cells in sarcoidosis mediastinal lymph nodes. Eur Respir J. 51(3).
5. Heukels P, van Hulst JAC, van Nimwegen M, Boorsma CE, Melgert BN, van den Toorn LM, Boomars KAT, Wijsenbeek MS, Hoogsteden H, von der Thüsen JH, Hendriks RW, Kool M, van den Blink B (2018). Fibrocytes are increased in lung and peripheral blood of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Respir Res. 19:90.

• Associate prof. dr. Marlies Wijsenbeek
• Dr. Mirjam Kool