JCI insight: how does fibrosis develop in the lungs?

November 20, 2019 / biourn / -- recently, a study led by Yale University has increased our understanding of the process of pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), providing researchers with a roadmap to explore new therapeutic targets for the disease The study, led by Naftali Kaminski, Ph.D., of Yale University School of medicine and John E McDonough, Professor of internal medicine at Brigham inger University (lecturer and researcher at the lab), was published in the recent journal JCI In this study, researchers examined areas of lung differential infection obtained from individuals with IPF and found that specific genes had changed in what looked like normal lungs Then they tracked how these genes increased or decreased as the disease progressed Kaminski said the paper is unique in that it provides the first computational model of IPF progress, along with an interactive website to explore the model Kaminski believes that extensive access to data will accelerate the study of new therapies in IPF (image source: www Pixabay Com) although Kaminski points out that scientists at Yale University and elsewhere have made "substantial scientific progress" in IPF in recent years, there are few available treatments IPF is a chronic disease The main symptom is the deterioration of pulmonary fibrosis, which eventually leads to failure of normal work It affects about 200000 people in the United States, with about 30000 new cases a year Within three to five years of diagnosis, 50% of IPF patients will die, but the cause is not clear Two FDA approved drugs for the treatment of IPF can slow the progress of the disease, but can not be reversed Drug testing for IPF is still ongoing, he said, adding that the latest study should provide researchers with the opportunity to identify new potential drug targets How fiber progress in the human lung original source: John E McDonough et al., transcription regulatory model of fiber progress in the human lung JCI insight, 2019; 4 (22) doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.131597