#fibrosis

Researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso are developing a new therapeutic approach that uses nanoparticles for the treatment of skin and lung fibrosis, conditions that can result in severe damage to the body's tissues. Md Nurunnabi, Ph.D., is an associate professor in UTEP's School of Pharmacy and the lead researcher on two studies published this June in the Journal of Controlled Release; one study focuses on skin fibrosis and the other on lung fibrosis. "We are closer than ever to developing a safe, effective and reliable approach to treating fibrosis," Nurunnabi said. Fibrosis is a condition in which the tissues in an organ—such as the skin, lungs, liver or kidneys—become thicker and stiffer, according to Nurunnabi. This can have multiple damaging effects, such as the lungs not being able to hold enough oxygen or blood vessels becoming narrower, leading to high blood pressure.

Keep it Together

Picture a perky provincial postman enthusiastically delivering parcels from the edge of town into the centre, not realising that these are unwanted deliveries, amassing in an unhelpful mess. Such is the situation with immune cells from alveoli – the tiny air sacs at the edges of our lungs. Researchers knew they were involved in some way in the development of lung fibrosis, a chronic condition where lung tissue becomes scarred and thickened with excessive connective tissue. So in mice they tracked the disassembly and transport of this material (green), shepherded by the immune cells (red) from the junction between the pleura (a membrane surrounding the lungs) and alveoli towards the deep lungs, where it activated fibroblasts (pink) which prompt fibrosis development. Preventing the disassembly of material where the pleura and alveoli meet reversed fibrosis and regenerated chronically fibrotic lungs, revealing that targeting the pleura could be a new avenue for treatment.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Video from work by Adrian Fischer, Wei Han, Shaoping Hu, Martin Mück-Häusl and Juliane Wannemacher, and colleagues

Institute of Regenerative Biology and Medicine(IRBM), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany

Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in Nature Communications, January 2025

For two years, I have been severely limited by oxygen which I sometimes ‘purposely’ forget, so I can have some humanly mobility.

It amazes me that the worse your lungs digress, the heavier those tanks and machines become.

First I was prescribed a heavy tank on wheels, that I used until they brought over a block-like concentrator and a equally heavy condenser. Those two machines were my furnace during the whole day and was very noisy!

With these two machines, came two tanks that gave me 8 hours of O2 on 2lpm or 4 hours of O2 on 4lpm. This meant: no outdoor overnight camping, no long trips and no staying away from the house for over 7 hours...it wasn’t life! It was a restraint.

I begged them for another tank, and reluctantly they gave me one extra for a total of 12 hours. Those tanks held me over for short trips, but when my lungs slipped a little further down, my obligated 2 liters went up to 6 liters and I refused to use that much, so I leveled at 4 liters and 6 hours of oxygen.

I brought my case to my pulmonologist and she agreed that I needed a battery operated concentrator and I was given the Simply Go which was a 12 pound brick. And carrying the extra battery, cords and packaging...it was well over 20 pounds of weight on my back as I could not work or even do daily tasks without just leaving it somewhere on the deck as I jump roped with the hose...tangling up, knocking things over and being on a short 6ft leash.

The hours weren’t any better either! With two batteries at 4lpm, it only tasked me 4 hours. I could squeeze 8 hours out of 2 liters, but once more I was limited by the weight, size and time.

So when my family surprised me with the purchase (over 3500$) for the Inogen 5; I was skeptical.

When it arrived, it was only a small device, about the size of a cereal box, and weighing just under 5 pounds. It was remarkably light and it came with two extra batteries. A carry case and backpack.

I plugged in one of the large batteries and tested it out. One battery at 3lpm seemed to last me 11 hours. Two batteries, 22 hours...I still have yet used the smaller 5.5 hour battery that I call ‘The brick’ as they are about the size and weight of a brick.

I tested to see if I could use it around the house and found daily tasks like laundry, dishes, vacuuming and walking outside was tolerable. Only issue, I have no shoulders due to muscle wasting from CF, so it is a struggle with the strap and my bra straps...lol!

One feature it has is a loud warning alarm which first sounds at 3% battery (only once, which is a downside as I sometimes miss that first alarm) and a final steady beep at 1% for about 1 minute until the machine turns off. Another ‘neat’ feature is the breath detect light that would flash green each time I breathed.

One of the most beneficial features that is amazing is the battery hour counter. You can read the time you have left and that takes away the guessing game or playing ‘beat the clock’! I use it to see when I need to go fetch the other battery if I am going out on a walk or just lingering around.

I few downsides to the Inogen 5 model is that it only has one mode, pulse. The smaller Inogen 5 model has steady pulse in its functions, but the battery life isn’t any good. And considering I use pulse while awake, it works to it’s beneficial. It goes from 1-4lpm...so it covers my oxygen needs (however, 4lpm greatly reduces the battery life).

New lung cell type discovered. Thoughts health innovators?

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic-based disorder which primarily affects the lungs.  The gene affected by cystic fibrosis is CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator), which controls the movement of salt and water in and out of cells. People with cystic fibrosis experience a build-up of thick sticky mucus in the lungs, digestive system and other organs, affecting the entire body. …

Cuando estoy con él, siempre intento estar feliz, hacerlo reír, estar con él, hablar sobre OVNIS (que es lo que tanto le gusta) de historia, política, memes y en general cosas buenas que suceden en el mundo.

El acudió con tantos doctores de la región desde varios meses antes por una tos crónica que empeoraba poco a poco. Ninguno le sugiero hacerse estudios.

En abril un doctor le había diagnosticado con Fibrosis Pulmonar. Qué no había cura, que ya nada se podía hacer.

Pero finalmente en mayo supimos la verdad. La cruel dura verdad. Lo tiene en el estómago, los pulmones y parte de la columna vertebral.

Estuve destrozada llorando y no me puedo imaginar cómo estuvo él ese día, me rompe el corazón en mil pedazos.

Hasta ahorita lleva dos quimioterapias de 12 aproximadamente...

Les pido porfavor buenos deseos para mi familia, de todo corazón lo apreciaría mucho. Gracias por leerme.

Fibrosis Factor

This mouse kidney exhibits abundant scarring, or fibrosis (red and green). Scar formation is an important response to injury in the kidney, or indeed any other part of the body. But, if the fibrosis is excessive, then kidney function can be severely reduced, which can ultimately lead to the organ’s failure. Scientists have recently discovered that deficiency in the production of a certain form of collagen (collagen V) – a key component of scar tissue – can cause mice to be especially prone to kidney fibrosis and failure. Similarly, humans with low levels of collagen V are also more likely to develop chronic kidney disease (CKD) than people with normal levels of the protein. Lack of collagen V seems to weaken the scar, prompting the body to increase fibrosis to compensate. Importantly, pharmacologically targeting this collagen V pathway promoted kidney repair in the mice, suggesting it might work in CKD patients too.

Written by Ruth Williams

Arjun Deb Lab/UCLA relating to work by Lianjiu Su and colleagues

Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Image copyright held by the original authors

Research published in Science Translational Medicine, April 2025