A Greek scientist at Duke University has identified, for the first time ever, a gene linked to idiopathic pulmonary fibr...

A Greek scientist at Duke University has identified, for the first time ever, a gene linked to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a fatal lung disease that affects roughly five million people worldwide and currently has no cure. Dr. Stavros Garantziotis, a professor of Medicine at Duke and director of the Clinical and Translational Research program at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, led the study published in Science Translational Medicine. His team found that a mutation in the gene encoding the immune receptor Tlr5 raises the risk of developing the disease by 30% to 50%. One in ten people carries this mutation. The disease causes scar tissue to form in the lungs, leading to progressive respiratory failure. Right now the only real treatment option is a lung transplant, and even the three antifibrotic drugs currently approved in the US can only slow the scarring, not reverse it. The team analyzed the Tlr5 gene in more than 1,000 patients with the disease and 2,500 healthy individuals. They found that people with this genetic deficiency cannot properly control bacteria in the lungs after injuries like those caused by smoking, and that unchecked bacterial growth appears to drive the scarring process. When mice with the same deficiency were treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics, they showed significantly less fibrosis. Human patients carrying the Tlr5 mutation also had higher levels of harmful bacteria in their lungs, confirming the connection. Garantziotis told the publication that patients carrying the Tlr5 mutation could benefit from antibiotic therapy as a form of targeted, precision medicine. His team is also developing an inhaled protein-based treatment that activates the Tlr5 receptor directly in lung cells, which could offer the same bacterial control as antibiotics without the side effects or resistance risks. The research is also being extended to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, where similar bacterial mechanisms may be at work. #Greece #Science #MedicalResearch