A new medicine, which could be the first effective treatment for a serious lung condition, has been developed by scientists at Queen's University in Belfast.

Acute lung injury (ALI) affects one in every five patients in intensive care units. With this condition, patients can become critically ill due to their lungs becoming inflamed and filling with fluid. As a result, a ventilator to aid breathing is often required.

The mains causes of ALI are road traffic accidents and infections and there are currently no effective treatments. Many of those affected go on to die from lung failure.

However the scientists at Queen's have developed a new drug that is a nanoparticle - it measures just one billionth of a metre. The drug can be inhaled, which means it enters the lungs straight away targeting the inflammation. Current treatments are unable to directly target this inflammation and can produce nasty side-effects.

According to lead scientist, Prof Chris Scott, nanoparticles ‘are perhaps one of the most exciting new approaches to drug development'.

"Most research in the area focuses on how the delivery of drugs to the disease site can be improved in these minute carriers. Our own research in this area focuses on how nanoparticles interact with cells and how this can be exploited to produce therapeutic effects both in respiratory disease and cancer," he explained.

The scientists are working towards having the medicine clinically evaluated ‘within the next three years'. If successful, they believe it may have a role to play in the treatment of other lung conditions, such as cystic fibrosis.