Patricia Inácio, PhD,  science writer—

Researchers may have discovered a key mechanism underlying pulmonary fibrosis (PF) — the failure of a particular group of lung stem cells to regenerate, hindering the repair of lung tissue in PF. The study, “Hyaluronan and TLR4 promote surfactant-protein-C-positive alveolar progenitor cell renewal and prevent severe pulmonary fibrosis in mice,” was…

Inhibiting PARP-1 protein expression eased several symptoms of lung fibrosis in a mice model of the disease. These results suggest that PARP-1 inhibitors may carry therapeutic potential for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The study, “HYDAMTIQ, a selective PARP-1 inhibitor, improves bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis by dampening the TGF-β/SMAD signalling…

Statins provide beneficial effects, including decreased death risk, in a large and well-defined cohort of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to an analysis of past studies. Findings were reported in the article “Effect of statins on disease-related outcomes in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,” recently published in…

Researchers have found, in mice with pulmonary fibrosis and with dominant immune response mediated by immune Th2 cells (T-helper cells), that aerobic exercise reduced lung fibrosis. The study, “Aerobic Exercise Attenuated Bleomycin-Induced Lung Fibrosis in Th2-Dominant Mice,” was published in the journal PLOS One. Fibrosis is the scarring and thickening…

Certain distinctive genetic differences or variations, including in genes involved in mucus production, were found to be significantly predominant in European populations of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to the study, “Association Study for 26 Candidate Loci in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Patients from Four European Populations” published in…

High levels of  gremlin-1, a protein important in lung and other organ development, promoted a more aggressive fibrotic response in a mouse model of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) upon exposure to silica, suggesting  gremlin-1 as a potential target for IPF therapeutics. The study “Gremlin-1 Overexpression in Mouse Lung Reduces Silica-Induced Lymphocyte Recruitment –…

A recent study published in the journal PLOS One, found two members of a class of proteins called surfactant proteins (SPs) at increased levels as a result of lung fibrosis and suggests that future studies could reveal the proteins, SP-A and SP-D,  as markers of disease severity. Pulmonary emphysema and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are defined…

P-Rex1 is a potential novel therapeutic target for pulmonary fibrosis (PF), according to the results of a new study, “Identification of P-Rex1 as an anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrogenic target for pulmonary fibrosis,” published in Scientific Reports. Because little is understood about factors that promote the transition of PF from…

Researchers at Genentech/Roche presented the outcomes of three studies investigating pirfenidone’s action in IPF patients, during the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2016 International Conference, held in San Francisco, May 13-18. Esbriet, also known by the generic name of pirfenidone, is an antifibrotic agent commonly prescribed as a treatment for…

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine showed that starving a group of immune cells by inhibiting the activity of the enzyme Arginase-1 impairs the cells’ ability to induce an allergic response. The study, “Arginase 1 is an innate lymphoid-cell-intrinsic metabolic checkpoint controlling type 2 inflammation,” published in the journal…