DUNDEE UNIVERSITY researchers have discovered a link between cystic fibrosis and other illnesses such as cancer and diabetes.

The team in Dundee, led by Dr Anil Mehta, found a common link with the diseases in a protein enzyme they dubbed the “fat controller.”

Dr Mehta said, “We believe that these results could have a significant impact in terms of the treatment of patients with all three diseases—CF, some forms of childhood cancer and adult onset diabetes—and, hence, their potential life expectancy.”

One of the people the research might help, if it leads to new treatments being developed, is 12-year-old Ashley Parlane.

She is from Dairsie in Fife and is a frequent patient at the children’s hospital at Ninewells. For her, having cystic fibrosis means a constant course of drugs, using a nebuliser every day and twice a day going through bone shaking physiotherapy sessions.

The disease is caused by the mucus which lines the air passages to the lungs being too thick.

If her lung function drops below 50%, which it does every two or three months, it means a hospital stay, although Ashley prefers that not to cut too much into her education.

She said, “I’d actually rather be here during the holidays than during school time. I’m well used to coming here so it’s not something that I get worried about, and I don’t like to miss too much school time.”

She starts at Madras College in St Andrews after the summer.

Ashley’s mother Shona regularly spends time with Ashley in hospital. She has a crucial part to play in helping to keep her daughter’s health manageable.

Shona said, “I didn’t know anything about cystic fibrosis until we found out that Ashley had it, but we have had to find out about it now.

“It has undoubtedly had an effect on Ashley beyond simply being ill. She’s had to grow up quicker than her friends as she’s had to deal with this.

“It can be hard. We’ve had people getting on at us in the street because Ashley has been coughing up mucus and I’ve been encouraging her to spit it up. That is essential with cystic fibrosis, because you have to try to clear the lungs, but obviously it is not something people necessarily understand.”

About one person in 25 in the UK carries the gene that causes cystic fibrosis. If both parents are carriers, there is a one in four chance their child will develop the condition.

The family hope that the Dundee University research might prove beneficial in the future.

Shona said, “We know this is not a cure, but it does offer encouragement that right next to the children’s hospital there are people like Dr Mehta who are working to beat this.

“We also get great help from the people in the hospital. Gail Milne, the CF nurse in the children’s hospital, and her predecessor Robert Muirhead, have been absolutely fantastic.”

* RESEARCHERS AT Dundee University have made an important discovery which opens up new areas of research into cystic fibrosis.

The team, led by Dr Anil Mehta, have found links between the condition and a range of other illnesses, including cancer, diabetes and obesity. The key is a protein they had dubbed the cellular “fat controller.”

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited condition caused by a genetic flaw and it affects about 7500 people in the UK. On average, a sufferer can expect to live only into their 30s, although improvements in treatment mean a child born with the condition now has an 80% chance of surviving to their late 40s.

In a healthy person there is a constant flow of mucus over the surfaces of the air passages in the lungs which removes debris and bacteria.

In someone with CF this mucus is too sticky to perform this role properly and also provides an ideal environment for bacterial growth, putting sufferers at risk of serious chest infections.

Symptoms include persistent coughing and shortness of breath, but CF can also lead to diabetes and infertility and cause the liver and spleen to become enlarged.

Dundee University hosts the European Union-funded CF database, containing the details of 90% of UK patients, and is a leading centre of research into the incurable condition.

Dr Mehta and his team, including research fellow Dr Russell Crawford, have been studying the relationship between three cancer-related enzymes that are associated with diabetes (NDPK), fat metabolism (AMPK) and cystic fibrosis (CFTR).

Enzymes are complex proteins produced in the cells of the body that help to bring about various biochemical reactions.

The team found a new link between NDPK and AMPK, which leads to variations in fat metabolism. They nicknamed this the fat controller. Additional research found that these enzymes also bind to a protein that causes cystic fibrosis.

Dr Mehta said, “It has long been known that CF patients suffer significant variations in weight. They tend to be very thin and can suffer very fast weight loss when they fall ill. But we did not know why this was the case.

“Similarly it has been known that CF patients suffer a higher rate of cancer than normal and again we did not know why. In equal measure, almost half of these patients develop an unusual form of diabetes.

“What our research has uncovered are the genetic links, through this cellular fat controller, which we believe lead to these differences in fat metabolism and cancer. Furthermore, there are also significant links here to diabetes.”

Dr Mehta said the findings could have a major impact on research into CF and the other conditions and, subsequently, the treatment of patients.

“The implications of this are that we have opened up a whole new area of research which links all of these conditions, and from here on in researchers looking at cancer, diabetes, obesity or cystic fibrosis should all be working with each other and looking at what the other is doing, because it is all linked together.”