Project description:Over the past decade, several large registries of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) have been established. These registries are collecting a wealth of longitudinal data on thousands of patients with this rare disease. The data collected in these registries will be complementary to data collected in clinical trials because the patient populations studied in registries have a broader spectrum of disease severity and comorbidities and can be followed for a longer period of time. Maintaining the quality and completeness of registry databases presents administrative and resourcing challenges, but it is important to ensuring the robustness of the analyses. Data from patient registries have already helped improve understanding of the clinical characteristics of patients with IPF, the impact that the disease has on their quality of life and survival, and current practices in diagnosis and management. In the future, analyses of biospecimens linked to detailed patient profiles will provide the opportunity to identify biomarkers linked to disease progression, facilitating the development of precision medicine approaches for prognosis and therapy in patients with IPF.
Project description:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an untreatable fibrotic lung disease characterized by fibroblast proliferation and epithelial mesenchymal transition. The expression and role of microRNAs (miRNA) has not been studied in IPF. Using miRNA expression microarrays we identified 46 differentially expressed miRNA in IPF lungs which included let-7d and the miR-30 family. Keywords: miRNA expression Lung tissue samples for microarray analysis were obtained through the University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Tissue Bank. Ten samples were obtained from surgical remnants of biopsies or lungs explanted from patients with IPF who underwent pulmonary transplant, and ten control normal lung tissues obtained from the disease free margins with normal histology of lung cancer resection specimens. The morphologic diagnosis of IPF was based on typical microscopic findings consistent with usual interstitial pneumonia. Total RNA was labeled with Cy3 and hybridized on Agilent 8X15K microRNA array (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA). After 20 hours hybridization, arrays were washed and scanned according to the manufacturerâs protocol.
Project description:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an untreatable fibrotic lung disease characterized by fibroblast proliferation and epithelial mesenchymal transition. Using miRNA expression microarrays we identified 96 differentially expressed miRNA in IPF lungs which included let-7d, miR-30 family, miR-29 family and miR-154 family. Lung tissue samples for microarray analysis were obtained through the University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Tissue Bank. 13 samples were obtained from surgical remnants of biopsies or lungs explanted from patients with IPF who underwent pulmonary transplant, and 12 control normal lung tissues obtained from the disease free margins with normal histology of lung cancer resection specimens. The morphologic diagnosis of IPF was based on typical microscopic findings consistent with usual interstitial pneumonia. Total RNA was labeled with Cy3 and hybridized on Agilent 8X15K microRNA array (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA). After 20 hours hybridization, arrays were washed and scanned according to the manufacturer’s protocol.
Project description:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an untreatable fibrotic lung disease characterized by fibroblast proliferation and epithelial mesenchymal transition. The expression and role of microRNAs (miRNA) has not been studied in IPF. Using miRNA expression microarrays we identified 46 differentially expressed miRNA in IPF lungs which included let-7d and the miR-30 family. Keywords: miRNA expression
Project description:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an untreatable fibrotic lung disease characterized by fibroblast proliferation and epithelial mesenchymal transition. Using miRNA expression microarrays we identified 96 differentially expressed miRNA in IPF lungs which included let-7d, miR-30 family, miR-29 family and miR-154 family.
Project description:BACKGROUND:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive fibrosing interstitial pneumonia of unknown cause associated with the histopathologic and/or radiologic pattern of usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP). Occupational risk factors have been proposed to be associated with UIP. The aim of this case-control study is to evaluate the relationship between UIP pattern and occupational exposure in Southern Europe. METHODS:Sixty nine cases with a UIP radiological pattern at CT-scan were selected from a clinical database of the University Hospital of Perugia, Umbria, between January 2010 and December 2013. Controls (n?=?277) not reporting doctor diagnosed pulmonary fibrosis, were ascertained casually among general population from the same catching area of cases. Data were collected by a questionnaire used previously in a similar study. Logistic regression models, adjusted for gender, age and smoking, were performed to evaluate the association between UIP and occupational exposure. RESULTS:Farmers, veterinarians and gardeners (OR?=?2.73, 95%CI?=?1.47-5.10), metallurgical and steel industry workers (OR?=?4.80, 95%CI?=?1.50-15.33) were occupations associated with UIP. Metal dust and fumes and organic dust were risk factors for UIP. Increasing the length of occupational exposure in jobs at risk of pulmonary fibrosis, increased the risk of having UIP. CONCLUSIONS:This case control study confirm partially the results from previous similar studies. Some discrepancies could be explained by the different geographical origins of the population under study, reflecting also different occupational exposures.
Project description:Acute exacerbations of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis are associated with high mortality and are of unknown cause. The effect of air pollution on exacerbations of interstitial lung disease is unknown. This study aims to define the association of air pollution exposure with acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and corresponding air pollution data were identified from a longitudinal cohort. Air pollution exposures were assigned to each patient for ozone, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide based on geo-coded residential addresses. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the association of air pollution exposures and acute exacerbations. Acute exacerbation was significantly associated with antecedent 6-week increases in mean level, maximum level and number of exceedances above accepted standards of ozone (hazard ratio (HR) 1.57, 95% CI 1.09-2.24; HR 1.42, 95% CI 1.11-1.82; and HR 1.51, 95% CI 1.17-1.94, respectively) and nitrogen dioxide (HR 1.41, 95% CI 1.04-1.91; HR 1.27, 95% CI 1.01-1.59; and HR 1.20, 95% CI 1.10-1.31, respectively). Increased ozone and nitrogen dioxide exposure over the preceding 6 weeks was associated with an increased risk of acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, suggesting that air pollution may contribute to the development of this clinically meaningful event.