Project description:Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is commonly present in patients with chronic lung diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) or Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) where it is classified as Group III PH by the World Health Organization (WHO). PH has been identified to be present in as much as 40% of patients with COPD or IPF and it is considered as one of the principal predictors of mortality in patients with COPD or IPF. However, despite the prevalence and fatal consequences of PH in the setting of chronic lung diseases, there are limited therapies available for patients with Group III PH, with lung transplantation remaining as the most viable option. This highlights our need to enhance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that lead to the development of Group III PH. In this review we have chosen to focus on the current understating of PH in IPF, we will revisit the main mediators that have been shown to play a role in the development of the disease. We will also discuss the experimental models available to study PH associated with lung fibrosis and address the role of the right ventricle in IPF. Finally we will summarize the current available treatment options for Group III PH outside of lung transplantation.
Project description:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating condition with a 5-year survival of approximately 20%. The disease primarily occurs in elderly patients. IPF is a highly heterogeneous disorder with a clinical course that varies from prolonged periods of stability to episodes of rapid deterioration. In the last decade, improved understanding of disease mechanisms along with a more precise disease definition has allowed the design and completion of a number of high-quality clinical trials. Yet, until recently, IPF was essentially an untreatable disease. Finally, pirfenidone and nintedanib, two compounds with antifibrotic properties, have consistently proven effective in reducing functional decline and disease progression in IPF. This is a major breakthrough for patients and physicians alike, but there is still a long way to go. In fact, neither pirfenidone nor nintedanib is a cure for IPF, and most patients continue to progress despite treatment. As such, comprehensive care of patients with IPF, including management of comorbidities/complications and physical debility and timely referral for palliative care or, in a small number of highly selected patients, lung transplantation, remains essential. Several agents with high potential are currently being tested and many more are ready to be evaluated in clinical trials.
Project description:ObjectivesIdiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic fibrotic lung disease characterized by dry cough, fatigue, and progressive exertional dyspnea. Lung parenchyma and architecture is destroyed, compliance is lost, and gas exchange is compromised in this debilitating condition that leads inexorably to respiratory failure and death within 3-5 years of diagnosis. This review discusses treatment approaches to IPF in current use and those that appear promising for future development.Data sourceThe data were obtained from the Randomized Controlled Trials and scientific studies published in English literature. We used search terms related to IPF, antifibrotic treatment, lung transplant, and management.ResultsEtiopathogenesis of IPF is not fully understood, and treatment options are limited. Pathological features of IPF include extracellular matrix remodeling, fibroblast activation and proliferation, immune dysregulation, cell senescence, and presence of aberrant basaloid cells. The mainstay therapies are the oral antifibrotic drugs pirfenidone and nintedanib, which can improve quality of life, attenuate symptoms, and slow disease progression. Unilateral or bilateral lung transplantation is the only treatment for IPF shown to increase life expectancy.ConclusionClearly, there is an unmet need for accelerated research into IPF mechanisms so that progress can be made in therapeutics toward the goals of increasing life expectancy, alleviating symptoms, and improving well-being.
Project description:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic disease in which the lungs become irreversibly scarred, leading to declining lung function. As currently available drugs do not cure IPF, there remains a great medical need for more effective treatments. Perhaps this need could be addressed by gene therapies, which offer powerful and versatile ways to attenuate a wide range of processes involved in fibrosis. Despite the potential benefits of gene therapy, no one has reviewed the current state of knowledge regarding its application for treating IPF. We therefore analyzed publications that reported the use of gene therapies to treat pulmonary fibrosis in animals, as clinical studies have not been published yet. In this review, we first provide an introduction on the pathophysiology of IPF and the most well-established gene therapy approaches. We then present a comprehensive evaluation of published animal studies, after which we provide recommendations for future research to address challenges with respect to the selection and use of animal models as well as the development of delivery vectors and dosage forms. Addressing these considerations will bring gene therapies one step closer to clinical testing and thus closer to patients.
Project description:Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA) is a rare disease with distinct features not seen in other categories of juvenile idiopathic arthritis. In recent years, advances in the understanding of disease immunopathogenesis have led to improved targeted therapies with significant improvement in patient outcomes. Despite these advances, there remain subsets of SJIA with refractory disease and severe disease-associated complications. This review highlights existing options for treatment of refractory SJIA and explores potential future therapeutics for refractory disease.Key Points:Despite targeted Interleukin IL-1 and IL-6 inhibitors a subset of SJIA remains refractory to therapy. About 1 in 7 SJIA patients will be refractory to targeted IL-1 or IL-6 therapy.There is no current agreed upon definition for refractory SJIA and we propose in this review that refractory SJIA is presence of active systemic or arthritic features despite treatment with anti-IL-1 or anti-IL-6 therapy or disease requiring glucocorticoids for control beyond 6 months.SJIA disease associated complications include presence of associated macrophage activation syndrome (MAS), interstitial lung disease (ILD) or amyloidosis and management of each differs.Refractory SJIA treatment options currently include additional conventional synthetic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (csDMARDS), biologic (bDMARDS), combination biologic therapy, targeted synthetic (tsDMARDS) or other immunomodulatory therapies.
Project description:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive disease of pulmonary scarring. New treatments slow disease progression and allow pulmonary fibrosis patients to live longer. Persistent pulmonary fibrosis increases a patient's risk of developing lung cancer. Lung cancer in patients with IPF differs from cancers that develop in the non-fibrotic lung. Peripherally located adenocarcinoma is the most frequent cell type in smokers who develop lung cancer, while squamous cell carcinoma is the most frequent in pulmonary fibrosis. Increased fibroblast foci in IPF are associated with more aggressive cancer behaviour and shorter doubling times. Treatment of lung cancer in fibrosis is challenging because of the risk of inducing an exacerbation of fibrosis. In order to improve patient outcomes, modifications of current lung cancer screening guidelines in patients with pulmonary fibrosis will be necessary to avoid delays in treatment. 2-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) computed tomography (CT) imaging can help identify cancer earlier and more reliably than CT alone. Increased use of wedge resections, proton therapy and immunotherapy may increase survival by decreasing the risk of exacerbation, but further research will be necessary.
Project description:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive interstitial lung disease (ILD) of unknown origin characterized by epithelial cell dysfunctions, accumulation of fibroblasts and myofibroblasts and relentless deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM). Improved diagnostic accuracy and better trial design have provided important insights from recent clinical trials. Perhaps the most important insight was the realization that 'standard therapy' was actually harmful! This review summarizes the current understanding of the cell types that are altered in IPF and the pathogenic mechanisms that have been identified. It also reviews recent clinical trial results and interpretations. Finally, we highlight attractive biologic targets and therapies in development with recommendations for future therapeutic avenues.
Project description:Over the past two and a half decades, many clinical trials have been designed to determine the safety and efficacy of pharmacotherapy for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). However, so far, only two drugs (pirfenidone and nintedanib) have been found to have an impact on disease progression as defined by reducing the rate of decline in forced vital capacity over a year among IPF patients with mild to moderate impairment in lung function. These two drugs have been approved for treatment of IPF by regulatory agencies and are currently in clinical use worldwide. This article summarises the current landscape of pharmacotherapy for IPF and highlights the prospects and potential of new therapies that are currently being pursued in clinical trials.
Project description:In recent years, enzymes have risen as promising therapeutic tools for different pathologies, from metabolic deficiencies, such as fibrosis conditions, ocular pathologies or joint problems, to cancer or cardiovascular diseases. Treatments based on the catalytic activity of enzymes are able to convert a wide range of target molecules to restore the correct physiological metabolism. These treatments present several advantages compared to established therapeutic approaches thanks to their affinity and specificity properties. However, enzymes present some challenges, such as short in vivo half-life, lack of targeted action and, in particular, patient immune system reaction against the enzyme. For this reason, it is important to monitor serum immune response during treatment. This can be achieved by conventional techniques (ELISA) but also by new promising tools such as microarrays. These assays have gained popularity due to their high-throughput analysis capacity, their simplicity, and their potential to monitor the immune response of patients during enzyme therapies. In this growing field, research is still ongoing to solve current health problems such as COVID-19. Currently, promising therapeutic alternatives using the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) are being studied to treat COVID-19.
Project description:RNA velocity has enabled the recovery of directed dynamic information from single-cell transcriptomics by connecting measurements to the underlying kinetics of gene expression. This approach has opened up new ways of studying cellular dynamics. Here, we review the current state of RNA velocity modeling approaches, discuss various examples illustrating limitations and potential pitfalls, and provide guidance on how the ensuing challenges may be addressed. We then outline future directions on how to generalize the concept of RNA velocity to a wider variety of biological systems and modalities.