Fibrosis News and Research

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Fibrosis is the growth of fibrous tissue.

Mechanism behind cardiac scarring discovered

In the aftermath of a heart attack, the body's own defenses may contribute to future heart failure. Authors of a new study believe they have identified a protein that plays an important role in a process that replaces dead heart muscle with stiffening scar tissue. The researchers are hopeful that the findings will lead to the development of new therapies to prevent this damage.

15 Dec 2008

Research aims to reduce scarring from heart attacks

A heart damaged by heart attack is usually broken, at least partially, for good.

14 Dec 2008

Carrier screening for spinal muscular atrophy should be offered to all couples

Carrier screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) - a serious genetic disease affecting approximately 1 in 10,000 infants that causes progressive muscle weakness and death - should be made available to all families, according to a new practice guideline issued by the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG).

10 Dec 2008

Hep C treatment pegylated interferon reduces the virus but liver damage continues

Treating patients who have chronic hepatitis C and advanced liver disease with long-term pegylated interferon significantly decreased their liver enzymes, viral levels and liver inflammation, but the treatment did not slow or prevent the progression of serious liver disease, a study finds.

10 Dec 2008

Researchers identify key step in maturation pathway of telomerase

The Stowers Institute's Baumann Lab has discovered an important step in the maturation pathway of telomerase, the enzyme that replenishes the sequences that are lost at chromosome ends with every cell division.

8 Dec 2008

Promacta (eltrombopag) shown to increase platelet counts and reduce bleeding in chronic immune thrombocytopenic

GlaxoSmithKline has announced positive safety and efficacy results from RAISE (RAndomized placebo- controlled ITP Study with Eltrombopag), a Phase III study of Promacta (eltrombopag) in adults with chronic immune (idiopathic) thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) who had received one or more prior ITP therapies.

7 Dec 2008

Hep C treatment peginterferon reduces the virus but liver damage continues

5 Dec 2008

Intervention in infants with cystic fibrosis key to slowing progression

Early detection of lung disease in cystic fibrosis (CF), combined with aggressive treatment in infants, may be the key to controlling the progression of the disease, according to a recent study.

5 Dec 2008

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis linked to heart attacks

Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are three times as likely to experience severe coronary events - including heart attacks - than people without the disease, according to a recent study that analyzed the risk of cardiovascular disease in nearly 1,000 patients with IPF and more than 3,500 matched controls.

5 Dec 2008

Low-dose peginterferon used for hepatitis C doesn't work

An NIH funded multi-center clinical trial found no benefit from "maintenance therapy," low-dose peginterferon used for hepatitis C patients who have not responded to an initial round of treatment.

3 Dec 2008

Six bad bugs increasingly escaping effects of antibiotics

Infectious disease experts warn that new drugs are urgently needed to treat six drug-resistant bacteria that cause most hospital infections and increasingly escape the effects of antibiotics.

1 Dec 2008

Scientists discover new properties of imidazolium salts

Scientists at Singapore's Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have uncovered new properties of imidazolium salts (IMSs), which suggest that they could play a vital role in disease prevention and treatment.

1 Dec 2008

Bariatric surgery may resolve liver disease

Obesity is a growing epidemic in the U.S. with a significant increase in prevalence from 15 percent to 32.9 percent from 1980 to 2004. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an emerging problem related to the obesity epidemic, becoming one of the most common causes of liver disease in the nation.

1 Dec 2008

Anadys Pharmaceuticals receives fast track for ANA598 treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus

Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted fast track designation to ANA598 for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. ANA598 is Anadys' investigational hepatitis C non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor.

1 Dec 2008

Noninvasive test for urine protein detects kidney dysfunction in transplant patients

A noninvasive test that analyzes proteins in the urine can correctly identify patients whose transplanted kidneys are failing, according to a study appearing in the February 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN).

26 Nov 2008

Nplate receives positive opinion for marketing authorisation in Europe

Amgen has announced that the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion recommending marketing authorisation for Nplate (romiplostim) in the European Union (EU).

21 Nov 2008

FDA approves GSK's Promacta (Eltrombopag)

GlaxoSmithKline has announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for PROMACTA (eltrombopag) for the treatment of thrombocytopenia in patients with chronic immune (idiopathic) thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) who have had an insufficient response to corticosteroids, immunoglobulins or splenectomy.

20 Nov 2008