News

Mesenchymal stem cells show considerable potential as a means of treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), but numerous issues need to be resolved before a stem cell approach might benefit patients. The study, “Mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of chronic lung disease,” published in the journal Respirology, also underscored…

‘Exhale, Mindfully Manage Your IPF’ is a new initiative co-sponsored by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR), the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, and the international biotechnology firm Genentech. The program’s aim is to help people living with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and encourage…

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a seven-year grant worth $5.2 million to a team of researchers looking into the cellular and molecular mechanisms that promote lung regeneration, and aiming to develop therapies for children with hereditary lung diseases and adults with pulmonary fibrosis…

Today, Oct. 17, is the 11th annual World Day for Organ Donation and Transplantation. While medical advances have resulted in increasing numbers of transplants performed each year, the availability of donor organs is still not enough to fulfill the urgent needs of all those awaiting a transplant. One reason for the limited availability is that…

A rare form of immune T-cells promotes chronic inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found. Their discovery, made in a mice model of the disease, may lead to a new therapeutic target for lung fibrosis. The research report, “Deletion of mTORC1 activity in CD4+ T cells…

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…

Blocking a specific molecular target — 4-1BB — reduced crystalline silica-induced lung inflammation and, consequently, pulmonary fibrosis in animal models, researchers reported. Inhaled crystalline silica is the main cause of silicosis, a condition characterized by chronic lung inflammation, and progressive and irreversible lung fibrosis. But the exact mechanisms by which crystalline silica…

Although the immune system works to fight pathological agents that invade the body, preventing disease, certain immune cells respond in ways that can grievously aggravate health conditions. A prime example is a damaging immune response that causes pulmonary fibrosis (PF) in people infected with the Paracoccidiodes fungi, according to a study published in the journal PLoS One.

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…

Recent research suggested that the hormone leptin is a potentially promising plasma biomarker of acute exacerbation (AE) and predictor of survival in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). This is the first report associating leptin levels with IPF or AE-IPF, and could hold great potential to improve disease monitoring. The study…