A factor crucial to lung development also appears to promote fibrosis, the tissue-scarring in the lungs associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to a study. The factor, TAZ, locks lung fibroblasts — or cells that generate connective tissue — in a state that promotes fibrosis. TAZ stands for transcriptional co-activator with…
When idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients experience sharp flares and sudden disease worsening, the bacterial make-up of their respiratory tract changes, a study has found. The research, “Changes in the respiratory microbiome during acute exacerbations of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,” compared patients whose condition had worsened because of an…
Increased deposits of iron in immune cells called macrophages were found to be independently correlated with pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to a recent study. Findings of hemosiderin-laden (an iron-storage complex within cells) in macrophages in the lungs of IPF patients might also be…
Measuring disease-associated factors in sputum may be a less invasive way of tracking molecular changes in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) than bronchoalveolar washing, which involves sucking material from the lungs with a syringe, according to a study. Researchers found several factors in IPF patients at higher levels than in healthy people…
A secreted factor from bone marrow stem cells (BMSC-cm) improves the function of alveolar epithelial cells in repair and regeneration. These results support a potential therapeutic role for BMSC-cm released factors in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other lung diseases. The study “Hepatocyte growth factor secreted by bone marrow…
Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) who rapidly gain weight may have a poorer prognosis than those with lesser weight gains, particularly if they never smoked. Researchers also linked to poorer survival a notable decline in lung function with one year, and a jump in the number of hospitalizations for airway problems. The study,…
Confo Therapeutics has received two multi-million-dollar research grants, one to identify new G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) agonists to treat fibrosis and another to develop new applications for the company’s proprietary Confo technology. Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) gave Confo a two-year €1.6 million ($1.7 million) grant for research into the GPCR…
Everyone suffers from stress from time to time but when you have a chronic disease, stress not only adds to your everyday burden but can often exacerbate the symptoms of your condition. While we can’t avoid stress altogether, there are ways that we help ourselves relax more and not let things…
Higher levels and activity of an enzyme, called urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), were associated with fibrosis in lung tissue of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). This suggests that uPA may be a target in treating lung fibrosis. The study, “The fibrogenic actions of lung fibroblast-derived urokinase: a potential drug target…
A lung fibrosis treatment based on a shark antibody is on the verge of entering a first clinical trial in patients. The treatment has shown promise in animal models of fibrosis, and offers hope for a therapy that is superior to current treatment approaches for lung fibrosis. Developed by Australian-based AdAlta, the compound is a…
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