Lowering the numbers of interleukin-10 (IL-10)-producing immune B-cells in a mouse model protected the animals from developing fibrosis after exposure to silica, according to a recent report by researchers in China. The study, “Role of IL-10-producing regulatory B cells in modulating T-helper cell immune responses during silica-induced lung…
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Researchers from The Netherlands found that mice producing high levels of protein C which prevents blood coagulation, develop less severe pulmonary fibrosis; and the milder disease course is linked to lower numbers of immune cells in the lung. The study, “High endogenous activated protein C levels attenuates bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis,“ published in…
Two clinical hallmarks of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), traction bronchiectasis and honeycombing, may be aspects of one continuous process of lung remodeling rather than distinct entities, as previously thought, according to researchers in Italy. Traction bronchiectasis refers to an irreversible dilation of bronchi, and honeycombing to the diffuse pulmonary…
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…
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a new patent to iBio, covering the company’s rights for the use of endostatin-related peptides with therapeutic potential in a number of fibrotic diseases, including scleroderma and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The patent, US 9,365,616, is titled “Use of Endostatin Peptides for the Treatment…
Pulmatrix, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, recently released an animated life sciences video describing their new dry powder inhaler system called Isperse for lung disease patients.
OFEV (nintedanib) is effective for a wide range of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients according to Boehringer Ingelheim, the company that developed the drug.
After reading a story in a newspaper, Cloyd Goley of Farmersville, Ohio, who has pulmonary fibrosis, felt newly hopeful. The article, published in the Dayton Daily News, told the story of the Rev. Joseph Kyles, a Chicago minister with  pulmonary fibrosis who was able to return to his work after undergoing a double-lung transplant. “It’s…
Patient stratification to deliver personalized medicine has become a routine practice in oncology that may be of great help in understanding and managing pulmonary diseases, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Supported by a deep understanding of a disease,  stratification is a process that categorizes patients into subgroups according to disease progression,…
Doctors rarely see patients with symptoms of both pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema, but those who do quickly learn that these patients chart a very different clinical course than those with either condition. A case study by researchers at  Deccan College of Medical Sciences in India and the University of Florida underscores this, detailing a patient with combined pulmonary fibrosis…
