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Scientists ID Biochemical Signals in IPF

Posted on: Wednesday, 24 May 2006, 06:00 CDT

University of Michigan scientists have identified biochemical signals that attract pathogenic cells to damaged lung tissue.

The UM Medical School researchers say such signals often are one of the first steps in a chain of events leading to a lethal disease called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis kills 40,000 Americans annually. Exposure to toxic environmental agents can trigger IPF, but in most cases, its cause remains a mystery.

The disease is devastating to the patients who have it, and to the physicians who have no effective ways to treat it, says Bethany Moore, an assistant professor of internal medicine. IPF gradually destroys air sacs in the lung and replaces them with scar tissue, making it difficult and eventually impossible for patients to breathe. Most patients aren't diagnosed until the disease is in an advanced stage, and they often die within two years of diagnosis.

Moore says she and other U-M scientists hope to uncover information that might lead to therapeutic drugs to block progressive lung damage or diagnostic tests to make early detection possible.

Moore presented her IPF research Tuesday in San Diego during a meeting of the American Thoracic Society.

Source: United Press International

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