The presence of swollen lymph nodes in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) at the time of their diagnosis can be a predictor of poor prognosis, associated with stronger disease severity and lower survival, a study suggests.
News
Do NOX enzymes play a pivotal role in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)? This is the question researchers hope to answer with a newly funded research program evaluating the role of NOX enzymes. Genkyotex, a company focused on developing therapies for chronic diseases, recently announced that the U.S. National Institutes of…
The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) has completed the enrollment of PF patients in its PFF Patient Registry, with the admission of the 2,002nd patient. Launched in 2016, the PFF Patient Registry was created to compile large quantities of data collected from anonymous PF patients, and use it to help…
A mechanism triggered by the activation of two specific proteins called JAK2 and STAT3 was found to contribute to the damaging cellular transformations that occur in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a study reports. Blocking this signaling pathway reduced the levels of lung damage in a rat model of IPF,…
A new nanocarrier has been developed that is able to selectively deliver medicines to damaged cells in the lungs, alleviating fibrosis in mice, a study reports. Based on a naturally occurring process called cell senescence, the system also helps reduce the therapies’ toxic effects on healthy…
A team of researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine was recently granted $865,282 from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to investigate a stem cell therapy for pulmonary fibrosis. CIRM awarded two grants worth a total of…
An immune pathway that includes a molecule known as IL-33 and its receptor, ST2, may be key in the development and progression of pulmonary fibrosis (PF), according to new research in mice. The study, “The IL-33 Receptor ST2 Regulates Pulmonary Inflammation and Fibrosis to Bleomycin,” was published…
A new mobile app called PF Health has been launched to help patients with pulmonary fibrosis track their symptoms and share that information with their healthcare providers. The PF Health app resulted from collaborative work of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) and monARC Bionetworks, and aims to empower…
Targeting a key protein of the innate immune system called TLR4 could be a new way of treating people with pulmonary fibrosis (PF) and other fibrotic disorders, according to a Northwestern University study. The study, “TLR4-dependent fibroblast activation drives persistent organ fibrosis in skin and lung,” was published…
Blade Therapeutics has launched a Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate BLD-2660, its lead therapy candidate for the treatment of fibrosis, the company recently announced. The randomized, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation Phase 1 trial (NCT03559166) is enrolling an estimated 88 healthy volunteers to assess the safety and pharmacokinetics — how…
