He realised that by administering low doses of a cheap and widely available drug – theophylline – he could boost the levels of the enzyme [HDAC2, which “switches off” the genes responsible for causing inflammation], and therefore enable steroids to treat COPD. “Theophylline is a bronchodilator that has been used for the past 70 years in asthma and COPD patients, but until now it has always been administered in very high doses. We found that in very low doses the drug has a different effect – it appears to activate HDAC2 and increase its production.
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