News

Lung-directed treatment with isthmin 1 (ISM1) — a soluble signaling molecule naturally present in the lungs — reduced lung inflammation, suppressed emphysema development, and preserved lung function in a mouse model of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a study shows. Emphysema is a severe form of COPD marked by damage…

Being exposed to pesticides at work increases the risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a large U.K.-based study has found. This was true regardless of whether people smoked or had asthma; smoking and asthma are both known risk factors for COPD. “Focused preventive strategies for workers exposed…

JadiCells, the investigational stem cell therapy by Therapeutic Solutions International (TSOI), preserved lung function and increased the number of cells thought to have a role in lung repair in mice with inflammation-induced lung injury, the company announced. These preclinical findings further support the potential of JadiCells to both prevent…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Albany Medical College, in New York, a $2.8 million, five-year grant to study how carbon dioxide and metabolism impact people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD). COPD, affecting more than 16.4 million people in the U.S. alone, is a group of…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will allow Sanolla’s VoqX to be used in the clinic, the first stethoscope that can be used to detect infrasounds — acoustic waves that humans cannot hear. The primary care stethoscope — a diagnostic tool clinicians normally use to listen to sounds…

Activating receptor proteins of prostaglandins (PGs) — fatty molecules with hormone-like effects — restores the regenerative potential of lung cells in cellular models of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a study shows. This was achieved with iloprost and misoprostol — two compounds that mimic the activity of PGs and are…

Patients with moderate-to-very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and frequent flare-ups who were given astegolimab, a medicine in Genentech’s pipeline, reported a better health-related quality of life than those taking a placebo, a study found. The findings are from a Phase 2a trial, called COPD-ST2OP (NCT03615040),…

Researchers in the U.S. have identified a new cell type in the narrowest airways of the lungs that, besides being involved in producing the mucus lining the airways, can give rise to alveolar epithelial type 2 (AT2) cells, which are involved in lung tissue repair and regeneration. This cell type,…

The levels of a mucus protein called MUC5AC — abnormally increased when a person gets a viral infection — are associated with airway inflammatory responses and exacerbation severity in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a study shows. Simply put, the increased mucus protein from viruses creates a “vicious…

Molecules called stapled peptides blocked the secretion, or release, of mucin proteins from airway cells and lessened mucus buildup in the lungs of mice in a study. According to its researchers, these findings led to the creation of an inhaled aerosol that was tested in the mice and, with further…