A recent study conducted by a team of researchers at the Centenary Institute and University of Technology in Sydney has found blocking of a small RNA molecule called microRNA-21 can be a potential treatment for COPD. The researchers said that they experimented on mice to find that the use of microRNA-21 inhibitors promisingly reduced inflammation and improved the lung capacity of the mice.

Professor Phil Hansbro, the study’s senior author and Director at the Centenary UTS Centre for Inflammation, said that their study offered a new paradigm of understanding COPD treatment and the development of new drugs targeting microRNA-21 may offer up an entirely new therapeutic approach.