Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a rapidly progressing lung disease with high unmet needs and characterized by an excess in matrix deposition that leads to severe decline in lung functioning, where arginase expression and arginine metabolism seem to be involved and could be a promising target. Astrazeneca has presented data regarding their arginase inhibitor, AZD-8965, for the potential treatment of IPF.
OGG1 is a key enzyme in the base excision repair pathway, responsible for removing oxidized bases from DNA. In idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), emerging evidence suggests that OGG1 also contributes to profibrotic gene expression, indicating a role beyond DNA repair.
In pulmonary hypertension (PH), upregulated signaling by ActRIIA ligands, such as myostatin, activin A and GDF11, activates SMAD2/3 mediated pathways that drive pulmonary vascular remodeling and right ventricular dysfunction. Therapeutic blockade of these ligands using ligand traps such as sotatercept improves vascular remodeling and ameliorates PH pathology.
Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has divulged macrocyclic compounds acting as cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulators reported to be useful for the treatment of cystic fibrosis.
Anima Biotech Inc. has divulged collagen 1 (COL1) translation inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cirrhosis, fibrosis, nonalcoholic or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (NASH/MASH), alcoholic fatty liver and autoimmune diseases.
Chinese researchers have developed a new a circulating exosomal proteomic biomarker signature that may aid in the diagnosis of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in combination with computed tomography. Exosomes may contribute to lung disorders by carrying cargoes that promote inflammatory responses in immune and lung epithelial cells. The assay was performed in a case-control biomarker study; exosomes from 168 serum samples were extracted and submitted to proteomic analysis.
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a common morbidity in infants born prematurely and characterized by airway hyperreactivity and adverse neurodevelopmental sequelae in surviving infants; therapeutic options are evasive and glucocorticoids are mostly used during the disease but with limitations. Researchers from Ayuvis Research LLC have recently published results on a Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) antagonist, AVR-48, for the potential treatment of BPD.
Despite having lower smoking habits than other groups in the U.S., Black Americans are more likely to develop lung cancer, and their survival rates are significantly worse. What explains this disparity? Scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have analyzed the genetics of their African ancestry in search of risk genes related to the disease and tobacco use. The results reveal new risk factors and confirm the presence of genetic variants that may contribute to the greater impact of lung cancer in this population.