Author Archives: Magdalena Kegel

A natural compound called gentiopicroside effectively lowers inflammation and tissue scarring in a mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis (PF), say researchers at China’s Kunming Medical University. Since the plant-derived compound targets both fibrotic and inflammatory processes, researchers suggested it may be an ideal drug candidate for lung fibrosis — particularly…

Only a minority of patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) swiftly receive a correct diagnosis, while more than half are misdiagnosed at least once, finds a Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) survey of 600 ILD patients. Meanwhile, patients go through invasive and costly diagnostic procedures — often without the desired result.

A cancer drug in clinical development might be used to treat pulmonary fibrosis (PF), or as a starting point to develop better antifibrotic treatments, German researchers suggest. Their study, “FoxO3 an important player in fibrogenesis and therapeutic target for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,” appeared in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine. In it,…

The management of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and lung cancer should follow the premise “first, do no harm,” researchers argue in the journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. Their commentary, “Patients with IPF and lung cancer: diagnosis and management,” spotlights the fact that — despite lung…

British regulators have paved the way for people with severe cases of pulmonary fibrosis to gain access to Prometic Life Sciences’ tissue-scarring therapy PBI-4050 before it is approved. The step the regulators took was to designate PBI-4050 a Promising Innovative Medicine for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The next step would be…

Researchers have found another piece in the molecular puzzle of changes leading to pulmonary fibrosis — a cell signaling factor. It offers scientists a new target for developing lung-scarring treatments. Lung damage leads to the production of a protein that attracts immune cells to the area. Without this signaling, mice…

Thyroid hormone, delivered through aerosol inhalation, helped to resolve lung scarring in a mouse model of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to research published in the journal Nature Medicine. The study provides evidence that lung fibrosis is a disease caused — at least partly — by abnormalities in metabolic processes…

Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are likely to experience symptoms for years before their diagnosis, a British study reports. University of Nottingham researchers analyzed symptoms in the medical charts of newly diagnosed patients to reach their conclusion. Breathlessness was the most common symptom, the team found. The research,…

Autoimmunity may drive idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to a study that found a link between certain autoantibodies —those that target the body’s own cells and tissues — and disease progression in these patients. The study, “Autoimmunity to Vimentin Is Associated with Outcomes of Patients with Idiopathic…

Clinical trial results of Patara Pharma’s inhaled therapy candidate PA101 for chronic cough caused by idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) indicate the medication reduces cough in a disease-specific manner. The findings, published in the journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, were derived from a Phase 2 trial (NCT02412020) of…