Susceptibility to Pathogenic T Cells in Chronic Lung Disease May Have Genetic Basis

UC San Francisco researchers have uncovered a surprising role for fibroblasts in the lungs in activating T cell inflammation that drives lung destruction in COPD exacerbation triggered by viral infection. They also identified a T cell subset that can be targeted to treat COPD exacerbations.

Race-based spirometry equations may miss emphysema

A secondary data analysis of the CARDIA (Coronary Artery Risk Development In Young Adults) Lung study found that emphysema is often detectable on CT scan before spirometry findings become abnormal. The findings suggest that reliance on spirometry alone may result in the underrecognition of impaired respiratory health. Because the discrepancy is particularly present in Black men, this could exacerbate racial disparities. The analysis is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers reverse emphysema in mice by injecting blood vessel wall cells

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian in New York have discovered that injecting mice with pulmonary endothelial cells—the cells that line the walls of blood vessels in the lung—can reverse the symptoms of emphysema. The study, which will be published July 21 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), may lead to new treatments for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an inflammatory lung disease associated with smoking that is thought to be the third leading cause of death worldwide.