Researchers are one step closer to understanding the molecular mechanism of action of pirfenidone, the anti fibrotic drug for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis. This may help improve the safety and efficacy of the drug, which is often used in very high doses to achieve therapeutic effectiveness, causing a range of adverse side effects.
The Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals are expanding the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis – PROspective Outcomes (IPF-PRO) Registry, an academic-industry alliance between the two to better understand outcomes and disease progression in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a rare lung disease. The expansion will…
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has awarded Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) an $11 million project renewal grant to investigate the genetics and biological processes that contribute to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). IPF has been a focus of study for Dr. Timothy Blackwell, a professor at the Ralph…
DS Biopharma, a privately held Dublin-based company with a proprietary bioactive lipid technology platform, has launched Afimmune, a spin-off focused on approaches to treating fibrosis and fibrotic conditions. These includenon-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and atopic dermatitis, as well as other inflammatory and pulmonary disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and…
Metformin, a first line medication for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, reduces inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis in mice, suggests a study published in the Journal of Korean Medical Science.
Researchers at the Chinese Nanjing University School of Medicine in China discovered yet another microRNA that contributes to the development of lung fibrosis. MicroRNA are small molecules known to control gene activity. The study, “MiR-338* suppresses fibrotic pathogenesis in pulmonary fibrosis through targeting LPA1,” published in the…
Childhood cancer survivors are at an increased risk of developing lung fibrosis for up to 25 years after their initial cancer diagnosis, analyses of data from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study show. The report, “Risk and impact of pulmonary complications in survivors of childhood cancer: A report from the Childhood…
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…
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have identified a new gene that, when mutated, increases the risk for pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema by reducing the activity of telomerase, the enzyme that maintains the protective caps, or telomeres, on chromosomes. The study, “Loss-of-function mutations in the RNA biogenesis factor…
Humanetics of Minneapolis was awarded a federal grant to continue developing its proprietary BIO 300 radiation modulator to treat delayed effects of acute radiation exposure in the lungs. The $597,000 grant from the the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) will cover two years of research in a collaborative effort…
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