Completed

Cough Responses to Tussive Agents in Health and Disease

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What is being collected

Data Collection

Collected from today forward - Prospective
No DNA Sample
Who is being recruted

Chronic Cough+16

+ Asthma

+ Bronchial Diseases

From 18 to 75 Years
See all eligibility criteria
How is the trial designed

Cohort

Tracking disease incidence in order to identify risk factors and understand disease progression over time.
Observational
Study Start: November 2009
See protocol details

Summary

Principal SponsorManchester University NHS Foundation Trust
Last updated: January 27, 2026
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner

Study start date: November 1, 2009

Actual date on which the first participant was enrolled.

Coughing is a distressing symptom which has a major impact on quality of life. It has been estimated that cough costs the UK economy £1 billion each year. Currently there are no effective anti-tussive agents to treat subjects with cough. Although drugs such as morphine may have some anti-tussive effect, side effects unacceptable. Currently our understanding of the mechanisms which lead to coughing in different diseases is poor. Many mechanistic studies rely on testing the sensitivity of the cough reflex by inhalation of capsaicin (chilli-pepper extract) or citric acid. These challenges do not differentiate well between health and disease or between different disease states. Other agents such as prostaglandins and bradykinin are known to stimulate a coughing but responses to these agents have rarely been used as a measure of cough reflex sensitivity and not been compared to standard challenges. It is clear that patients with common airway diseases such as COPD and asthma cough significantly more than healthy subjects. Moreover subjects presenting with chronic cough have cough rates an order of magnitude higher than most patients with airway disease. These differences are poorly represented by the differences in current cough challenge tests. The investigators hypothesize that patterns of cough responses to different tussive agent may better differentiate between health and different disease states. These patterns may also suggest the different mechanisms leading to cough in different diseases.

Official TitleCough Responses to Tussive Agents in Health and Disease
NCT01297790
Principal SponsorManchester University NHS Foundation Trust
Last updated: January 27, 2026
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner

Protocol

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
Design Details

102 patients to be enrolled

Total number of participants that the clinical trial aims to recruit.

Cohort

These studies follow a group of individuals with common characteristics (such as a condition or birth year) over a specific period to study health outcomes or exposures.


Eligibility

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria: person's general health condition or prior treatments.
Conditions
Criteria

Any sex

Biological sex of participants that are eligible to enroll.

From 18 to 75 Years

Range of ages for which participants are eligible to join.

Healthy volunteers allowed

If individuals who are healthy and do not have the condition being studied can participate.

Conditions

Pathology

Chronic CoughAsthmaBronchial DiseasesChronic DiseaseCoughHypersensitivityHypersensitivity, ImmediateImmune System DiseasesLung DiseasesLung Diseases, ObstructivePathologic ProcessesRespiration DisordersRespiratory HypersensitivityRespiratory Tract DiseasesSigns and SymptomsSigns and Symptoms, RespiratoryPathological Conditions, Signs and SymptomsDisease AttributesPulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * General * Adult subjects aged 18 years and over * Meet criteria for subject groups as outlined below (1) Healthy volunteers * Non-smokers * No history of respiratory disease (2) Healthy smokers * Current smokers with smoking history of ≥10 pack years * Spirometry within normal limits i.e. FEV1\>80% predicted and FEV1/FVC ratio \>75% predicted (3) Asthma * Physician diagnosis of asthma * Airways hyperresponsiveness to methacholine; PC20\<16mg/ml (within last 2 years) * Non-smokers or ex-smoker with smoking history of ≤10 pack years (4) COPD * Physician diagnosis of COPD * Ex-smokers with smoking history of ≥20 pack years * Spirometry demonstrating airflow obstruction i.e. FEV1/FVC ratio \<70% (5) Chronic Cough * History of a dry cough for \>8 weeks * Normal CXR * Non-smokers or ex-smoker with smoking history of ≤10 pack years Exclusion Criteria: * 1\) Symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection within the last 6 weeks 2) Participation in another clinical trial of an investigational drug within the last 4 weeks 3) Use of medication likely to alter cough reflex sensitivity i.e. ACE inhibitors, codeine phosphate, morphine sulphate, 4) Patients with severe respiratory disease i.e. FEV1 \< 1 litre, 5) Significant medical co-morbidities likely to affect ability to participate in the trial or affect cough reflex sensitivity e.g. diabetes, stroke, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis etc.

Study Plan

Find out more about all the medication administered in this study, their detailed description and what they involve.
Study Objectives

Study Objectives

Primary Objectives

Secondary Objectives

Study Centers

These are the hospitals, clinics, or research facilities where the trial is being conducted. You can find the location closest to you and its status.

This study has 1 location

Suspended

University Hospital of South Manchester

Manchester, United KingdomOpen University Hospital of South Manchester in Google Maps
CompletedOne Study Center