Activating a key component in the lung’s antioxidant defense system can prevent emphysema in mice, suggesting there could be a way to target therapies to prevent lung disease, Johns Hopkins researchers found.
The findings, published in the online Early Edition of Proceeding of the National Academy of Science, may offer clues to treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, known as COPD, which comprises emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
A molecule called Nrf2 — nuclear factor erythriod-derived 2-related factor 2 — turns on antioxidant and detoxifying genes that protect the lungs.
For the study, researchers exposed mice to cigarette smoke and fed them a diet with a substance known to activate this molecule. Those mice were much less likely to have lung cell damage and showed improve heart function, researchers found.
“Our results provide promise for future clinical trials that target the Nrf2 pathway in active or passive smokers with COPD,” according to the study, lead by Shyam Biswal, an associate professor in the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences and the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
The findings, published in the online Early Edition of Proceeding of the National Academy of Science, may offer clues to treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, known as COPD, which comprises emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
A molecule called Nrf2 — nuclear factor erythriod-derived 2-related factor 2 — turns on antioxidant and detoxifying genes that protect the lungs.
For the study, researchers exposed mice to cigarette smoke and fed them a diet with a substance known to activate this molecule. Those mice were much less likely to have lung cell damage and showed improve heart function, researchers found.
“Our results provide promise for future clinical trials that target the Nrf2 pathway in active or passive smokers with COPD,” according to the study, lead by Shyam Biswal, an associate professor in the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences and the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
St. Joe’s runs out of flu shots
Stay informed.Stay ahead.
Join Washington Examiner for unlimited access to the news, analysis, and commentary that matter most.
See Options
Already a member? Log in
Print subscriber? Click here to login/register your account
Digital subscriber? Click here to login/register your account.
