Marta Figueiredo, PhD, science writer —

Researchers have discovered that an ion channel protein called TRPML3 may be a new therapeutic target for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Their preclinical study found that the protein regulates the levels of MMP-12, a molecule produced in lung immune cells and known to drive COPD. Mice lacking the…

A single alteration in the sequence of the CHRNA5 gene that leads to inflammation, tissue remodeling, and abnormal repair of airway cells was found, in a recent study, to be a risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Notably, this gene variant is involved in nicotine-responding/dependent pathways, but was…

Dark-field chest X-ray imaging provides greater detail of lung microstructure than standard chest X-rays, and allows for the accurate diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a study shows. “In the future dark-field X-rays could help improve early detection of COPD and other respiratory ailments,” Alexander Fingerle, MD, of the…

Treatment with the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) lowered blood levels of pro-inflammatory molecules and reduced lung scarring, or fibrosis, in a rat model of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a study shows. This beneficial effect was associated with the suppression of two molecules — von Willebrand factor (VWF) and p38 mitogen-activated…

Repeated lung injury increases the biological age of lung stem cells and progressively diminishes their regenerative abilities, according to a study in mice and lab-grown human cells. These findings suggest that such repeat damage contributes to the abnormal repair and tissue remodeling that characterizes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and…

Treatment with human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) results in a strong, but temporary, reduction in pro-inflammatory molecules involved in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to data from a Phase 1 clinical trial involving nine COPD patients. Notably, molecules directly produced by MSCs were identified as potential drivers of these…

The Zephyr Endobronchial Valve leads to sustained and significant improvements in lung function, exercise capacity, and quality of life in people with homogeneous emphysema, a severe form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to one-year data from the IMPACT clinical study. “This is very important data because…

Hospitalizations for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) dropped by half after the implementation of public health measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections, according to a U.S. study. This reduction in COPD hospital admissions was 36% greater than “the declines seen in other serious medical conditions, including…

Treatment with human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) effectively lessened hard-to-treat non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) lung infection, and its associated weight loss, in a new mouse model susceptible to these infections, an early study reported. “The potential to use human mesenchymal stem cells to treat difficult lung infections is promising,” Anthony Atala,…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the start of an international pivotal trial to test the RheOx System, Gala Therapeutics’ medical device, in adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who have moderate to severe chronic bronchitis. “Chronic bronchitis is a debilitating disease which results…