Magdalena Kegel,  —

New analyses, presented at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2016 Annual Conference, further support the efficacy and safety of nintedanib (Ofev) in treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Boehringer Ingelheim shared a host of data at the meeting, establishing nintedanib as an important player in IPF management, irrespective of disease severity. “IPF…

Netrin-1, a factor produced by the extracellular matrix, drives the production and accumulation of fibrocytes, a fibrosis-promoting cell type in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc)-induced pulmonary fibrosis, according to a study by Yale University School of Medicine researchers. Fibrocytes are cells that often reside in the extracellular matrix —…

Mesenchymal stem cells can aid in treating autoimmune-related lung fibrosis by changing the composition of T-cells from a mainly toxic to a more regulatory type. The beneficial effects observed in the study were induced by the surprising contribution of TGF-β1 — a molecule normally considered strongly pro-fibrotic, indicating that treatments…

More effective treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is needed for reasons as solidly grounded in economics as they are in basic healthcare, a study published in the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy points out — showing that acute exacerbations and disease-related hospitalizations in lung fibrosis patients are associated with high…

Drugs targeting a pathway centered on a molecule named PI3K and a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) — another molecule in the same pathway — are in early, preclinical tests in a variety of disease conditions, and recently completed a Phase 1 cancer trial. A study from University College London  also found that…

Scientists from the Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden, reported findings from the first year of a national registry of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients (IPF), which showed that Swedish IPF patients have a poor quality of life and poor perception of their disease — despite a relatively modest level of disease severity.

A case report of a woman with pulmonary fibrosis and a rare telomere mutation raised the possibility that telomere-associated fibrosis can be observed without shortened telomeres. The study, “TINF2 Gene Mutation in a Patient with Pulmonary Fibrosis“, published in the journal Case Reports in Pulmonology, proposed that…

Researchers at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, found that CD248 — a surface marker expressed on fibroblast cells in the lung — might also serve as a marker of disease severity in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The findings also indicate that CD248 might be a suitable…

Japanese researchers reported that treatment with thrombomodu­lin, an anti-clotting factor naturally produced in the body, reduced mortality in patients experiencing acute exacerbations of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The findings also suggested that abnormal blood clotting may contribute to poor outcomes following these flares. Thrombomodu­lin is a factor crucial for controlling the blood-clotting…

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine researchers demonstrated that the smallpox vaccine may reverse established lung fibrosis in mice. The vaccine changed the reactivity of various types of immune T-cells, suggesting that balancing the actions of these immune players could be crucial in developing immunotherapeutic treatments for lung fibrosis. Scientists have known for some…