Pulmonx to commence US study of emphysema therapy

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given pulmonary medical device manufacturers Pulmonx permission to initiate an investigational device exemption (IDE) pivotal clinical study for its Zephyr endobronchial valve therapy, designed to treat emphysema.

The multi-centre trial is designed to study the safety and efficacy of Zephyr in reducing volume in the diseased portion of the lungs, thereby improving the ability of the healthier portions of the lungs to function.

The trial will incorporate the use of the Pulmonx Chartis system to plan valve treatment, according to the company.

A recent multi-centre European study of Zephyr, using Chartis, demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in target lobe volume reduction and FEV1 at 30 days compared to those who were predicted not to respond.

The patients also showed a mean percentage increase in FEV1 of 16% and a mean improvement in quality of life as scored by the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), a clinically validated quality-of-life measure.

Temple University School of Medicine pulmonary and critical care medicine chief and Zephyr trial co-principal investigator Dr Gerard J Criner said a recently published trial in Europe highlighted the benefits of Chartis technology in planning endobronchial valve treatments.
"If we can confirm these benefits in this pivotal trial, Pulmonx's Zephyr EBV therapy could represent an important breakthrough in the treatment of emphysema in the US," Criner said.

The company intends to use the IDE study data to support a premarket approval application (PMA) to the FDA for the approval of Zephyr.

 new medical device for emphysema therapy

gene profiling in emphysema, looking for a cure

How gene profiling in emphysema is helping to find a cure


Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the United States and is thought to affect almost three million people in the UK. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Medicine has identified genes whose activity is altered with increasing lung damage and, using a database of drug effects on gene activity (the Connectivity Map), finds that the compound Gly-His-Lys (GHK) affects the activity of these genes. When tested on human cells from lungs damaged by emphysema, GHK was able to restore normal gene activity and repair cell function.


The strongest cause of COPD is smoking, and at least 25% of smokers will develop this disease. Tobacco smoke and other irritants cause oxidative stress and chronic inflammation, which over time results in emphysema, the destruction of lung alveolar cells. Without these cells, the lungs are not able to efficiently exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide, leaving the patient continuously short of breath and with low levels of oxygen in their blood.

In a ground breaking, multi-centre, study funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH), researchers used cells taken from lungs donated by patients undergoing double lung transplant, whose own lungs were irrevocably damaged by COPD. Profiling of these samples showed that 127 genes had changes in activity that was associated with worsening disease severity within the lung. As would be expected from the nature of the disease, several genes associated with inflammation, such as the genes involved in signalling to B-cells (the immune system cells which make antibodies), showed increased activity.

In contrast genes involved in maintaining cellular structure and normal cellular function, along with the growth factors TGFβ and VEGF, were down-regulated and showed decreased activity. This included genes which control the ability of the cells to stick together (cell adhesion), produce the protein matrix which normally surrounds the cells, and which promote the normal association between lung cells and blood vessels.
Dr Avrum Spira and Dr Marc Lenburg, who co-led this study from the Boston University School of Medicine, explained, "When we searched the Connectivity Map database, which is essentially a compendium of experiments that measure the effect of therapeutic compounds on every gene in the genome, we found that how genes were affected by the compound GHK, a drug known since the 1970s, was the complete opposite of what we had seen in the cells damaged by emphysema."

Dr Joshua Campbell explained, "What got us especially excited was that previous studies had shown that GHK could accelerate wound repair when applied to the skin. This made us think that GHK could have potential drug's as a therapy for COPD."
Prof James Hogg, from the University of British Columbia continued, "When we tested GHK on cells from the damaged lungs of smokers with COPD, we saw an improvement in the structure of their actin cytoskeleton and in cell adhesion, especially to collagen. GHK also restored the ability of cells to reorganise themselves to repair wounds and construct the contractile filaments essential for alveolar function."
GHK is a natural peptide found in human plasma, but the amount present decreases with age. While more testing needs to be done on its effects in COPD, these early results are very promising. Therapeutic studies with GHK in animal models of COPD are now underway with the ultimate goal of moving this compound into clinical trials.

As more gene activity signatures are discovered, this method of matching drug to disease may provide a rapid method for discovering potential uses for existing drugs and compounds.

Temple testing lung foam for emphysema

Temple testing lung foam for emphysema

PHILADELPHIA - August 14, 2012 (WPVI) -- An innovative new treatment for emphysema is being tested in the Philadelphia area.



Dr. Gerard Criner of Temple University Hospital, is studying a foam tended to help those with the lung disease breathe easier.

Science & Tech newsIn emphysema, parts of the lungs become less elastic, so air gets trapped in them.

"If you could do something to lessen the air in the chest, then the lungs that remain and the breathing muscles in the chest wall work more normally," says Dr. Criner.

Surgery can do that, but it has risks, and emphysema patients are often too weak to go through it.

Instead, a bronchoscope and a thin catheter put a liquid into diseased areas.
It turns to foam, sealing them off.

In earlier tests here & overseas, the Aeriseal lung foam worked well.

"They had about a 30% improvement in lung function, their ability to walk during 6 minutes, an improvement in quality of life, and reduction in breathlessness," notes Dr. Criner.
And the effects appear to be long-lasting.

"Up to a year that's been studied so far," he says.

In the Temple study, 3 patients will receive the treatment for every that aren't, but at the end of 1 year, those who don't get treated initially can get the treatment if they want, and if they still qualify.



For more information, call the temple lung center at 215-707-1359, or email to: breathe@temple.edu.

Study Gives First Evidence That Adult Human Lungs Can Regrow

Researchers speculate growth was stimulated, at least in part, by stretching caused by exercise

By Barbara Bronson Gray
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, July 18 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have uncovered the first evidence that the adult human lung is capable of growing back -- at least in part -- after being surgically removed.
In an observational study, researchers used MRIs with hyperpolarized helium-3 gas to show that existing alveoli -- the tiny, air-exchange units of the lung -- actually increased in number after a 33-year-old woman had her entire right lung removed due to cancer.

The study showed a 64 percent increase in the number of alveoli in the woman's lung 15 years after surgery. "The research clearly shows that some form of lung growth can occur in the adult human," said study author James Butler, an associate professor of medicine in the department of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

The new alveoli were all shaped similarly. "It's striking, the degree of homogeneity of the new alveoli, as if the lung was responding to something," Butler added. The cause of the new growth could be stretching of the tissue, perhaps by exercise, he suggested. "Could other bio-molecular growth be triggered by stretch? It's a wide-open question now."

About a year and a half after surgery, the woman began a daily exercise program including walking, cycling and yoga. Previous studies in adult dogs have suggested that lung growth after pneumonectomy (removal of the lung) in dogs was possible, typically after periods of lung stress or strain.
Over a period of 15 years, data measuring lung size and capacity were collected, using common respiratory tests (called FEV and FVC) measuring how much air can be taken in and blown out with deep breaths. In the early months after surgery, the lung responded as researchers would expect. The total lung volume increased and the lung density fell below normal. But, the lung tissue volume gradually started to increase and the density returned to a level normally seen when a deep breath is taken, suggesting the growth of new tissue.


The ability of the lung to regenerate, potentially triggered by exercise, makes sense, said Dr. Norman Edelman, a professor of medicine at Stony Brook University and chief medical officer of the American Lung Association. "When the lung develops in utero [when the fetus is developing], the pulling force of the diaphragm is an important stimulation for the lung to grow," he said. "But, of course, the practical application of the research is a long way off."
Butler said the next step is to do a study involving more people over time. "If we can discover the underlying bio-molecular mechanisms, they would suggest potential therapeutic options," he explained.

 see the original article here

Lung Regeneration Closer to Reality after New Discovery

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College say they have taken an important step forward in their quest to "turn on" lung regeneration - a discovery that could lead to treatment for millions of people suffering from respiratory disorders.

In the journal Cell, the research team claims that they have discovered the biochemical signals in mice that initiate the regeneration of new lung alveoli: the tiny, numerous sacs within the lung where oxygen exchange occurs. Specifically, they found that regenerative signals originate from the specialized endothelial cells that line the interior of blood vessels in the lung.

Though it has been long known that mice can regenerate and expand the capacity of one lung if the other is missing, this study now pinpoints the molecular triggers that initiate this process, and the researchers believe these findings hold relevance for humans.

According to lead author, Dr. Shahin Rafii, "Several adult human organs have the potential upon injury to regenerate to a degree, and while we can readily monitor the pathways involved in the regeneration of liver and bone marrow, it is much more cumbersome to study the regeneration of other adult organs, such as the lung and heart.”

For the study, Dr. Bi-Sen Ding, first author of this paper, removed the left lungs of mice and studied the biochemical process of subsequent regeneration of the remaining right lung. Prior research has shown that when the left lung of mice is removed, the right lung regenerates by 80 percent, effectively replacing most of the lost alveoli.

htclick for the complete article on lungs




The researchers found that removal of the left lung triggers receptors on lung endothelial cells that respond to vascular endothelial growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor. Activating these receptors promotes the creation of another protein known as MMP14. The researchers discovered that MMP14, by releasing epidermal growth factors, sparks the generation of new lung tissue.

The next step for researchers will be to determine in MMP14 and other unrecognized angiocrine factors are responsible for lung regeneration in humans as well as mice. According to Dr. Ding, "We believe the same process goes on in humans, although we have no direct evidence yet.” The study’s authors theorize that patients with COPD have so much damage to their lung endothelial cells that they no longer produce the proper inductive signals, thus impairing lung regeneration.

Co-author of the study, Dr. Zev Rosenwaks theorizes that, “"Perhaps replacement of angiocrine factors, or transplantation of normal lung endothelial cells derived from pluripotent stem cells, could restore lung regeneration. Currently, we are generating pluripotent stem cells derived from patients with genetic pulmonary disorders to identify potential pathways, which may ultimately enhance our understanding of how lung endothelial cells may improve lung function in these patients."

IV Oxygen Foam Could Buy Breathing Time

 Every time you inhale, oxygen passes from your windpipe to your lungs and on into your bloodstream. But what if your windpipe was blocked? Getting the gas straight to your blood could save your life. Wait, put down that syringe—a large air bubble in a blood vessel can kill you. But what if the bubbles were only a few millionths of a meter in diameter?

Researchers coated tiny amounts of oxygen gas with fatty molecules to create microparticles. Suspended in solution, the microparticles formed a foam containing 50 to 90 percent oxygen. In a beaker of blood, the foam was able to quickly transfer its oxygen to the cells.

Then the researchers tested it in animals. Normally, a blocked windpipe cuts off the blood’s supply of oxygen, leading to brain damage and death. But when rabbits with blocked windpipes received injections of the microparticles, their blood oxygen levels and heart rates remained stable. The work is in the journal Science Translational Medicine. [John N. Kheir et al, Oxygen Gas–Filled Microparticles Provide Intravenous Oxygen Delivery]

The foam may someday buy time for human patients. So that even someone with a closed airway can breathe easy.

—Sophie Bushwick


click to read the orginal iv oxygen foam article

Lung stents for Emphysema

click for the video om stents for Emphysema

Jennifer Mathews: For Barbara Greenfield, the simplest chores are taxing. An oxygen tank and cord are now her lifeline. Barbara started smoking at age 15. By the time she reached 55, she was up to three packs a day and had early stage emphysema. 

 

Armin Ernst: If you think of the lung is something like a sponge, a bath sponge with all the little bubbles, it destroys the walls between those bubbles.Jennifer Mathews: The destroyed walls make it difficult for patients to exchange oxygen for carbon-dioxide.

 

Barbara Greenfield: It's like I am suffocating.Jennifer Mathews:

 

 Dr. Armin Ernst is studying a minimally invasive treatment that could help. During the procedure, doctors placed a bronchoscope through the mouth, then make six small openings, openings to help the patient breathe. Stents are then inserted to keep the holes from collapsing.

 

Armin Ernst: The stents are covered with a medication that's called Taxol that is designed to prevent this happening.Jennifer Mathews: 

 

Barbara's husband hopes the treatment will help her live more comfortably.Martin Greenfield: There's always the concern of how much it will do to her and ultimately limiting the length of our life together.

 

Jennifer Mathews: She hopes she'll be breathing a little easier.Barbara Greenfield: This is my only hope. It's not going to cure me, but it's going to perhaps make my life a little simpler.Jennifer Mathews: This is Jennifer Mathews reporting.

stem cells to reverse Effects of Emphysema

Transplantation of Autologous Stem Cells Found to Reverse Effects of Emphysema

A novel stem cell therapy could be a viable treatment for patients with emphysema.   Previous methods to treat advanced lung disease involved transplanting stem cells intravenously.  In this new study, researchers used an endoscopic delivery system coupled with a scaffold comprised of natural extracellular matrix components to transplant autologous lung-derived mesenchymal stem cells (LMSCs) into the lungs of [animal] subjects with emphysema.  Post-transplantation results indicated marked evidence of tissue regeneration, increased blood flow to the lungs, and increased extra cellular matrix content.

 ”Mensenchymal stem cells are considered for transplantation because they are readily available, highly proliferative and display multi-lineage potential,” said study corresponding author Dr. Edward P. Ingenito of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.
The study is indicative of the multidisciplinary approach to the usage of autologous stem cells opening the door to a multitude of new possibilities for innovative stem cell therapies in a biologically organic way: using the body’s own regenerative properties to heal itself through the unique power of stem cells.


Preserving one’s own mesenchymal stem cells provides biological insurance for families and assurance that they will have access to progressive therapies when they need them most.  Banking the highly proliferative mesenchymal stem cells found in the dental pulp of baby teeth and wisdom teeth is an easy and affordable way to insure the future health of your family.
To learn more about how to bank dental stem cells, visit www.stemsave.com or call 877-783-6728 (877-StemSave) today.
To view the full article, click here.
The future of Regenerative Medicine is now.

more work on lung stem cells and emphysema

Cell transplantation of lung stem cells has beneficial impact for emphysema

Tampa, Fla. (June 4, 2012) – When autologous (self-donated) lung-derived mensenchymal stem cells (LMSCs) were transplanted endoscopically into 13 adult female sheep modeled with emphysema, post-transplant evaluation showed evidence of tissue regeneration with increased blood perfusion and extra cellular matrix content. Researchers concluded that their approach could represent a practical alternative to conventional stem cell-based therapy for treating emphysema.
The study is published in Cell Transplantation (21:1), now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/.


"Mensenchymal stem cells are considered for transplantation because they are readily available, highly proliferative and display multi-lineage potential," said study corresponding author Dr. Edward P. Ingenito of the Brigham and Women's Hospital Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. "Although MSCs have been isolated from various adult tissues - including fat, liver and lung tissues - cells derived from bone marrow (BM) have therapeutic utility and may be useful in treating advanced lung diseases, such as emphysema."


However, according to the authors, previous transplantation studies, many of which used an intravenous delivery method, have shown that BM-MSCs have been only marginally successful in treating lung diseases. Further, therapeutic responses in those studies have been limited to animal models of inflammatory lung diseases, such as asthma and acute lung injury.

To try and answer the questions surrounding the utility of BM-MSCs for treating advanced emphysema, a disease characterized by tissue destruction and loss of lung structural integrity, for this study the researchers isolated highly proliferative, mensenchymal cells from adult lung parenchyma (functional tissue) (LMSCs) and used an endoscopic delivery system coupled with a scaffold comprised of natural extracellular matrix components.
"LMSCs display efficient retention in the lung when delivered endobronchially and have regenerative capacity through expression of basement membrane proteins and growth factors," explained Dr. Ingenito.

However, despite the use of autologous cells, only a fraction of the LMSCs delivered to the lungs alveolar compartment appeared to engraft. Cell death likely occurred because of the failure of LMSCs to home to and bind within their niche, perhaps because the niche was modified by inflammation or fibrosis. These cells are attachment-dependent and failure to attach results in cell death."
Their findings did suggest, however, that LMSCs were capable of contributing to lung remodeling leading to documented functional improvement rather than scarring 28 days post transplantation.
"Although the data is from a small number of animals, results show that autologous LMSC therapy using endoscopic delivery and a biocompatible scaffold to promote engraftment is associated with tissue remodeling and increased perfusion, without scarring or inflammation," concluded Dr. Ingenito. "However, questions concerning mechanism of action and pattern of physiological response remain topics for future investigation."

"The impact of mesenchymal stem cells derived from autologous lung tissue demonstrated in this study, suggests that transplantation of these cells could prove to be an important factor in the treatment of emphysema, though further studies are required" said Dr. Amit N. Patel, director of cardiovascular regenerative medicine at the University of Utah and section editor for Cell Transplantation.

###

Contact: Edward P. Ingenito, MD, PhD, Pulmonary and Critical care Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis St. Boston, MA, USA.
Tel.(617) 833-8531
Fax. (617) 732-7421
Email eingenito@partners.org
Citation: Ingenito, E. P.; Tsai, L.; Murthy, S.; Tyagi, S.; Mazan, M.; Hoffman, A. Autologous lung-derived mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in experimental emphysema. Cell Transplant. 21(1):175-189; 2012
The Coeditor-in-chief's for Cell Transplantation are at the Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Center for Neuropsychiatry, China Medical University Hospital, TaiChung, Taiwan. Contact, Camillo Ricordi, MD at ricordi@miami.edu or Shinn-Zong Lin, MD, PhD at shinnzong@yahoo.com.tw or David Eve, PhD at celltransplantation@gmail.com
News release by Florida Science Communications


see the orginal source on this article

working on repair and regeneration of the adult lungs in animals?

Developmental/Regenerative Research
My research centers on a fundamental question in mammalian developmental biology.

Namely, how is development recapitulated during repair and regeneration of the adult lung?

 As a medical professional, I am particularly interested in the cellular mechanisms that are present in the developing mammalian lung and how these are altered with age. This is particularly relevant to human medicine, where chronic lung disease is a major undertreated health concern. My research seeks to understand which cells are necessary for repair and regeneration of the adult lung and how developmentally important cellular mechanisms may improve function of these cells in the adult. In particular, we have isolated mesenchymal and epithelial cell populations from both mice and humans that appear to be important in the regenerative process.




Veterinary Medicine


As a veterinary internal medicine specialist, I am very interested in studying health and disease in veterinary species, and using these naturally occurring diseases as models for human disease. In particular, my veterinary research centers on understanding how cellular regeneration mechanisms and the therapeutic use of stem cells can be used to treat diseases seen commonly in veterinary patients, such as lung disease in horses, and sepsis in dogs.

Dr. Julia Paxson

Assistant Professor -- Beginning August 2012
Ph. D., Yale University;  D.V.M., Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
Developmental and Regenerative Biology

the world`s smallest heart and lung machine

Joas | 5/29/2012

The world`s smallest heart and lung machine has made it`s way to North Dakota and Trinity Health in Minot was the first to have it. It`s called Cardiohelp and it`s a portable artificial lung and heart. It helps patients who are too unstable for surgery.

The device has helped one patient for 54 days.

Trinity Health says they`re proud to be the first to offer this service in the state.

"It allows us not only to stabilize patients, but to potentially transfer them out to a higher level care center, a university for longer term therapy. We don`t have the resources here to manage a critically I`ll patient on this device," said Trinity Health Cardiovascular Surgeon Dr. Christopher Phillips.

Fargo also purchased Cardiohelp shortly after Trinity Health in Minot. Only 20 centers in the United States have this device.

June 5 Lung Cancer Research Call-In Day

» Update Your Contacts, Our New Email Address is TakeAction@lung.org

On Wednesday, June 6, please join with thousands of Americans across the country and participate in the American Lung Association's Lung Cancer Research Call-In Day by calling your elected officials in Washington. This is an opportunity for all of us to speak with one voice about the need for lung cancer research to be a national priority. Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in the United States, killing nearly 160,000 people every year, with one of the highest incidence rates and one of the lowest survival rates. That's why we need your help in calling your Members of Congress. If we want to see a change in the rates of this dreaded disease, Congress must increase funding for lung cancer research so it can be diagnosed earlier and treated more effectively. On Wednesday morning, June 6, you will be e-mailed information on how to call your Members of Congress as well as suggested talking points to call your Representative and two Senators in Washington, asking them to support additional funding for lung cancer research at the National Institutes of Health. To maximize the impact of these calls, please wait to make your calls until Wednesday, June 6. Also, please spread the word to family and friends and let them know that next Wednesday is Lung Cancer Research Call-In Day. Thank you for joining together with us and fighting for lung cancer research funding. For additional questions, please contact advocacy@lung.org or www.lung.org/lungcancercallinday. Save the Date Wednesday, June 6, is Lung Cancer Research Call-In Day      Campaign Exipration Date: June 30, 2012    Share with your friends and followers         Share with Your Friends and Followers Tweet about it: Use the hashtag #LungCancerNIH Post on your Facebook status: "Join me on Wednesday, June 6: Call Congress and tell them to support funding for lung cancer research http://bit.ly/KmAvTu" Thank you for all you do, Paul G. Billings Vice President, National Policy and Advocacy American Lung Association

American Lung Association ©2012 1301 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20004 T: 202-785-3355 | F: 202-452-1805 | E: TakeAction@lung.org

Implantation of fetal rat lung fragments

Implantation of fetal rat lung fragments into bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis

 
Objective: Pulmonary fibrosis is a life-threatening disease that results in progressive respiratory failure. We have suggested the possibility of fetal lung tissue as an option for further investigation into lung regeneration. The objective was to prove whether fetal lung fragments can survive and differentiate in fibrotic lung.

Methods: Lewis rats were administered bleomycin and used as recipients after 3 or 4 weeks. Day 17 fetal lung tissue from green fluorescent protein Lewis rats was used as donor material. Donor lungs were removed, cut into small pieces, and implanted into the recipients’ left lung. The recipients received cyclosporin to prevent immune response to green fluorescent protein and were killed after 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks and histologically evaluated. Furthermore, the expression of thyroid transcription factor-1 and Clara cell secretory protein in the implanted fetal lung tissue was immunohistologically evaluated.

Results: Fibrotic changes were recognized for a long period of time in the recipient lungs. The implanted fetal lung fragments could be clearly distinguished from recipient lungs because of the luminescence of grafts. Fetal lung fragments could survive in the recipient lungs with fibrotic changes. The air spaces of implanted fetal lungs were narrow at 1 and 2 weeks but expanded with the passage of time. The connection between the recipient lung and the implanted fetal lung was recognized, particularly in the peripheral grafts. The expression patterns of thyroid transcription factor-1 and Clara cell secretory protein in implanted lungs resembled those in the process of normal lung morphogenesis.

Conclusions: Fetal rat lung fragments could survive and differentiate in bleomycin-induced completely fibrotic lung.


 see the original article on the potential of lung fragments


Hiroaki Toba, MD^a, Shoji Sakiyama, MD, PhD^a,_*, Koichiro Kenzaki, MD, PhD^a, Yukikiyo Kawakami, MD^a, Koh Uyama, MD^a, Yoshimi Bando, MD, PhD^b, Akira Tangoku, MD, PhD^a
 
a Department of Thoracic and Endocrine Surgery and Oncology, The University of Tokushima, Kuramoto-cho, Tokushima, Japan
^b Department of Molecular and Environmental Pathology, Institute of Health Biosciences, The University of Tokushima, Kuramoto-cho, Tokushima, Japan
Received for publication November 4, 2011; revisions received December 13, 2011; accepted for publication January 4, 2012.
_^* Address for reprints: Shoji Sakiyama, MD, PhD, Department of Thoracic and Endocrine Surgery and Oncology, Institute of Health Biosciences, The University of Tokushima, Kuramoto-cho, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan. (Email: sakiyama@clin.med.tokushima-u.ac.jp ).

the effect of food on COPD (video)

the effect  of food on COPD

some recommendations for people with emphysema

Recommendations:
Avoid foods that require a great deal of chewing, such as meats and nuts.
Avoid any and all contact with tobacco. If you have emphysema and smoke, you must quit. Avoid areas where people smoke and do not allow smoking in your home, your car, or anywhere near you.
Eat a diet consisting of 50% raw foods. The other 50% should consist of soups, skinless chicken, fish, and grain cereals.
Consume onions and garlic daily. (Onions are good expectorant and garlic is known for its antibacterial properties.)
Avoid perfume and anything containing fragrance.
Avoid letting furry and feathered animals into your home.
Rest and avoid stress.
Have a light to moderate, regular exercise. Stationary bike, stair climbing, and walking are the forms of physical activities.
Go on cleansing fast periodically, using carrots, celery, spinach, and all green leafy vegetables and fresh fruit juices.
Avoid pollution. Leave the house during housecleaning to avoid allergens such as molds, dust, aerosol products, and etc.
Avoid fried and greasy foods, salt, and all foods that may cause excess mucus to be formed in the gastrointestinal tract, lungs, sinuses, and nasal cavity. Foods that lead to the formation of mucus include meat, eggs, all diary products and cheese, processes foods, tobacco, junk foods, and white flour products.
(Dr. Gary S.Sy, M.D. is the Medical Director of Life Extension Medical Center located at The Garden Plaza Hotel (formerly Swiss Inn Hotel) 1370 Gen Luna St., Paco Manila. E-mail Address: lifeextension_drgarysy@yahoo .com)



click for more info on emphysema copd

new Emphysema Treatments with valves

Pulmonx Reports New Publication Confirms Efficacy of Emphysema Treatment

Zephyr Endobronchial Valve (EBV) therapy guided by Chartis Assessment is effective in a broad range of patients 

 

 

May 10, 2012- Pulmonx, an emerging leader in interventional pulmonology, announced today that the European Respiratory Journal has published the results of the Chartis Multi-Centre study. The study is the first to combine the Chartis Pulmonary Assessment System and Zephyr EBV treatment for patients with advanced emphysema. The published results of the study demonstrate that in patients who achieve volume reduction post Endobronchial Valve treatment, the majority get clinically significant responses in lung function, exercise tolerance and quality of life measures. After detailed review of the U.S. and European VENT data, a much broader profile of patient characteristics was identified for potential inclusion; including patients that would have been excluded in the previous studies.


"Using the Chartis system to reliably plan EBV treatment can provide very real benefits for emphysema patients by relieving the hyperinflation and providing clinical benefit. This is a welcome advance for patients who have very few treatment options available to them" said Professor Felix Herth, MD, PhD., FCCP, Chairman and Head of Pneumology and Respiratory Care at Thoraxklinik, University of Heidelberg, Germany. "I believe that the publication of the results of the study will lead to Chartis and EBV treatment becoming a standard-of-care in the management of emphysema," he continued.

About the European Respiratory Journal publication

The peer-reviewed clinical paper, "Radiological and Clinical Outcomes of Using Chartis to Plan Endobronchial Valve Treatment," demonstrates the ability of the bronchoscopic Chartis Pulmonary Assessment System to predict treatment response by determining the presence or absence of collateral ventilation (CV). In this study performed in Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden, 80 patients underwent a Chartis assessment prior to Zephyr endobronchial valve implantation. The patients predicted by Chartis to respond showed statistically significant target lobe volume reduction and associated improvement in lung function compared to those predicted not to respond.


There were no serious adverse events related to the Chartis System. Six patients experienced a pneumothorax, a known temporary complication of EBV therapy, and recovered with standard treatment with all patients demonstrating significant target lobe volume reduction.
The study highlights that the addition of the Chartis System to plan EBV therapy produces consistent, clinically meaningful results in a broad population of patients with emphysema, while also confirming the safety profile of Zephyr EBV therapy in treatment of emphysema.
"This publication is a milestone for us as it documents the safety and efficacy of Chartis guided Zephyr EBV therapy. It is particularly useful to have this peer-reviewed data published in the public domain as we make final preparations to begin our US trial," commented Michael A. Baker, President and CEO of Pulmonx.


The publication is available online at http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2012/05/02/09031936.00015312.abstract

About Emphysema
Emphysema is a form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that occurs when the air sacs in the lungs are gradually destroyed, leading to shortness of breath even while at rest. Globally over 30 million patients have been diagnosed with emphysema. COPD is a major cause of disability and a major public health problem. The World Health Organization ranks it as the fourth leading cause of death today and it is expected to become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2030s. Most patients suffering from emphysema currently have few options for treatment. Emphysema is a major economic problem and a burden on the global healthcare system, due to millions of workdays missed, expensive and minimally effective therapies and frequent hospitalisations related to the disease.
About the Chartis and Zephyr Technologies

Emphysema patients suffer from hyperinflation--an increase in volume of the diseased portions of their lungs, which then compresses the healthier areas. This results in breathlessness and costly disability. Many patients cannot carry out even the most basic activities of everyday living, and may require supplemental oxygen. Zephyr endobronchial valves can reduce volume in the diseased portion of the lungs thereby improving the ability of the healthier portions of the lungs to function, and relieving the patient's symptoms, as well as allowing patients to increase their activity levels, promoting better overall health.
Some patients have extra airflow pathways between the lobes of their lungs, a condition known as "collateral ventilation". Large amounts of collateral ventilation can prevent the valves from working effectively by circumventing them.

The Chartis System includes a balloon catheter that is inserted into the airway and a simple, easy-to-use console that displays expiratory airflow, pressure and resistance, providing a quantitative measure of collateral ventilation.
Previously published studies on the Zephyr EBV have confirmed the safety of the treatment, as well as its effectiveness in a subset of emphysema patients. The challenge in applying the therapy to a broad population of emphysema patients has been the ability of physicians to plan valve treatments to account for anatomical variations in the lungs of individual patients which impact the effectiveness of the valves. The addition of the Chartis assessment now ensures that a very high percent of treated patients will experience benefit from EBV treatment.
About Pulmonx

Pulmonx, based in Redwood City, CA, and Peseux, Switzerland, is focused on developing and marketing minimally-invasive medical devices and technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary disorders. The Chartis System and Zephyr EBV is the first effective diagnostic and therapeutic solution to the problem of emphysema-induced hyperinflation. www.pulmonx.com

The Zephyr EBV is an investigational device in the United States. Limited by U.S. law to investigational use. The Chartis System is for use/sale outside the United States only.

SOURCE: Pulmonx

        
        Pulmonx 
        Mike Baker, President & CEO 
        mbaker@pulmonx.com 
        Peseux, Switzerland 
        Phone: +41 32 557 5800 
        Redwood City, CA 
        Phone: +1 (0) 650 216-0150
        

new treatment for emphysema

LVR-Coil Treatment Promising for Emphysema

tiny bell that breathes life back into your lungs?

 

Me and my operation: The tiny bell that breathes life back into your lungs

By Angela Epstein

Every year 900,000 Britons are diagnosed with lung conditions such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis which leave them breathless. Susan Matthews, 62, a retired administrator from Wiltshire, underwent a new, non-invasive treatment.

THE PATIENT

And breathe: A bell-shaped valve has transformed the life of one emphysema sufferer

Twelve years ago, I started feeling breathless when I was walking uphill or for long distances.
At the time I assumed I was just out of shape: as an administrator my day was fairly sedentary. I’d also, ashamed as I am to admit it, smoked on and off for the previous 20 years — up to 20 cigarettes a day.
The breathlessness got worse, and five years after the symptoms started I went to see my GP. By this stage I was gasping for breath.
I was referred to a consultant who diagnosed emphysema, where the lungs become inflamed — when I breathed in, the air was getting trapped and wasn’t being exhaled.
Over time the air builds up, taking up more and more space in your lungs so you can’t take as much air in — that’s why I’d been feeling so breathless.
Although both lungs were affected, the left was more damaged. The consultant said unless it was treated it would just get worse and could even be fatal as the lung tissue is gradually destroyed.
I was horrified, though in my heart I knew this was because I’d been stupid enough to be a smoker. Of course, I stopped completely straight away.
The consultant said the only treatment was to operate to deflate the damaged lung permanently, but because my breathing was so bad I just wasn’t well enough for surgery.

 

My breathlessness was getting steadily worse and it got to the stage when it was impossible to walk to the shops or even upstairs.
I also started to get chest infections every few months. I barely wanted to go out because everything was such an effort and I was so reliant on my husband, Brian, and our daughter Rhiannon, 31.
Then, last autumn, I was told about a new non-invasive procedure. The surgeon would put a tiny, bell-shaped valve down my throat and into the damaged part of my lung so the trapped air could be released, making it easier for me to breathe in and out.
The valve works one way so that when you breathe in it doesn’t allow air to the damaged part of the lung, yet it allows air out when you exhale.
I was terrified at first. But my consultant, Ms Kornaszewska, reassured me there was very little risk of complication since I wasn’t having a general anaesthetic or open surgery.
Anyway, by now I had so much trouble breathing that I could barely talk or get out of a chair without gasping. I couldn’t face going on the way I was.
I had the two-hour operation under sedation at Heath Hospital in Cardiff in October 2011, and was kept in for five days.
I had a sore throat when I woke up, but, remarkably, I wasn’t out of breath any more.
Since then, life has changed for the better. I enjoy walking again, going to the theatre and playing with my nine-year-old grandson, Cameron. They’re just normal things, but it’s so easy to take them for granted. 

THE SURGEON

Margaret Kornaszewska is a cardiothoracic surgeon at University Hospital, Wales.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) — the umbrella term for lung conditions such as emphysema — is a very widespread problem.
In fact, recent research suggests it may be hugely under-diagnosed — as many as one in ten people over 40 in Britain may have a form of COPD. More people die each year from these lung conditions than from breast and prostate cancer together.
The condition is linked to smoking, exposure to cigarette smoke and jobs such as mining or the chemical industry, but it can also be caused by earlier serious chest infections.

Normally, when we breathe in, air travels down the main airway, the trachea, into microscopic air sacs in the lungs called alveoli. Here, oxygen is absorbed into the blood before the air is breathed out.
When someone develops emphysema or chronic bronchitis, some of these microscopic air sacs become damaged. This means that not all the air that should be expelled is actually breathed out and about 10 per cent of it remains trapped in the lungs.
As a result the lungs become overinflated over time and there is less space for taking air in. The body compensates by taking shorter breaths, leading to breathlessness. The lung tissue can become so damaged that the condition can be fatal.
Operating to reduce this over-inflated area of the lung is thought to be the best way to resolve the problem. 

However, this is quite risky since emphysema patients are already unwell. It also means a long hospital stay and, as with all operations, carries the risk of infection.
Endobronchial lung volume reduction can achieve the same results, but with a minimal risk of complications as there’s no open surgery involved.
It involves placing a one-way, bell-shaped valve (about 10mm long and 5mm wide) in the bronchi, the tubes that run into the alveoli, in the most over-inflated part of the lungs.

When the patient breathes in, the valve closes and prevents air being directed to the damaged part of the lung, so preventing further inflation.
However, when the patient breathes out, trapped air is able to flow through the valve and out of the lung. This improves the patient’s ability to breathe, and of course it allows them to be more active, which improves their overall wellbeing.
Depending on a patient’s condition, the number of valves used can vary from one to 15. 

The procedure was trialled at the Royal Brompton Hospital, West London, around two years ago, and is available in a limited number of NHS hospitals, but there are plans to make it more widely available.
With the patient under sedation, I place a special camera on a tube (a video bronchoscope) down the mouth and directly into the damaged area. This transmits images of the lung onto a computer screen so that I can see exactly where to place the valve.
The valve, which is made of mesh, is then compressed into a catheter (a thin tube) and put down the throat.
Once guided to its exact location, the valve is pushed out of the catheter where it expands to its full width. The valve creates an airtight seal against the wall of the bronchi to prevent air from leaking around the device.
The valve stays in place because of internal pressure in the body, so then we simply withdraw the catheter and camera back through the mouth.
As there’s no invasive surgery there is no risk of infection, no need for painkillers and the effects are almost immediate.

The procedure costs £10,000 to £15,000 privately, depending on the number of valves used, with a similar cost to the NHS.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2140999/Me-operation-The-tiny-bell-breathes-life-lungs.html#ixzz1uLShye4W

SEMINAR: Lung injury and fibrosis: can stem cells deliver regeneration?

Lung injury and fibrosis: can stem cells deliver regeneration?

 

The Seminar: The lung is a remarkable organ with gas exchange and vital immune defence roles accomplished in a branching network of airways and about 200 million alveoli. It is also an extremely dynamic tissue with rapid turnover of lung cells and their surrounding matrix which may explain the ability of new lung tissue regeneration in experimental models of lung growth. Chronic lung diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are a major cause of illness and an enormous burden on world health systems. Treatment for these diseases is inadequate with patients unresponsive to most current therapies and, despite large programmes in drug discovery, no agents are emerging that can cure or reverse chronic lung diseases. There is hope that cell therapeutic approaches with the regeneration of new lung tissue might be achievable and initial reports using progenitor cells derived from the bone marrow suggest that this approach may ameliorate animal models of lung disease. The mechanism for this action is uncertain but likely depends on paracrine pathways rather than cell engraftment. This presentation reviews some of the milestones in pulmonary fibrosis research and presents data suggesting keratinocyte growth factor delivery in a transgene expressed by stem cells may be effective in preventing animal models of lung fibrosis.

The Speaker: Professor Laurent is currently the Head of the Research Department of Internal Medicine and the Director of the Centre for Respiratory Research at University College London. He directs a team of scientists and physicians conducting research into basic aspects of inflammation and tissue repair and has published over 200 articles in international journals of biomedical research. He was recently awarded the European Respiratory Societies Presidential Award for his contribution to lung science and is currently its head of Science. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and has edited several books including a four volume Encyclopaedia of Respiratory Medicine. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and Past- President of the British Association for Lung Research. In June 2012 he takes up a post at the University of Western Australia directing its newly formed Centre for Cell Therapies and Regenerative Medicine

Speaker(s)	Professor Geoff Laurent, Head of the Research Department of Internal Medicine & Director of the Centre for Respiratory Research at University College London, Director of Elect Centre for Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine, UWA
Location	Seminar room 1.81 Anatomy, Physiology & Human Biology building north, UWA
Contact	Debbie Hull <debbie.hull@uwa.edu.au> : 6488 3313
Start	Tue, 05 Jun 2012 13:00
End	Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:00
Submitted by	Debbie Hull <debbie.hull@uwa.edu.au>
Last Updated	Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:28

 

Ancillary Studies of Lung Stem/Progenitor Cell Epithelial-Mesenchymal Signaling

Ancillary Studies of Lung Stem/Progenitor Cell Epithelial-Mesenchymal Signaling Abstract: Epithelial-mesenchymal signaling is essential for organogenesis and adult tissue maintenance but is poorly understood in lung repair and regeneration. This proposal exploits timely advances by Consortium investigators and the additional skills and resources of collaborating scientists to identify the critical mesenchymal and epithelial stem/progenitor cell populations that mediate lung regeneration and identify the key signaling factors that operate in lung bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli. Sorted epithelial and mesenchymal cell populations will be scrutinized for evidence of signaling cascade activation separately in both epithelium and mesenchyme. Using murine genetic models and co-cultures of epithelial and mesenchymal cells, prioritized pathways, initially Sonic hedgehog (Shh), will be modulated to establish the role of pathway activation or dysfunction in airway homeostasis and during regeneration. Parallel in vitro models for primary human lung cells will be developed. Additionally, normal and pathologic pathway activation will be assessed in human lung tissue by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. The Aims are: 1) To lineage trace and sort region-specific epithelial progenitor cells and mesenchyme to identify candidate signaling pathways mediating epithelial-mesenchymal crosstalk; 2) To define the role of Shh signaling in epithelial and niche interactions in airway homeostasis and after lung injury; and 3) To employ novel human lung cell in vitro coculture models to test the function of candidate epithelial-mesenchymal signaling pathways identified in mice and to examine expression of cognate molecules in normal and diseased human lung tissues. These studies will exploit the skills, knowledge and tools of the Progenitor Cell Biology Consortium and this Ancillary team and will leverage these assets to enhance our understanding of lung regenerative biology. The information gained will be invaluable for defining mechanisms of normal lung repair and pathologic lung disease development, which lag behind our understanding in cardiac and bone marrow biology and disease. click for more info on lungs repair and regeneration

Replacing Body Parts : see ears,hearts and lungs from PBS

Replacing Body Parts : see ears,hearts and lungs from PBS Custom-made hearts, lungs, kidneys, and other organs could revolutionize organ transplantation click to watch a short video about Replacing Body Parts

New valve replacement surgeries for lungs

New valve replacement surgeries for lungs DUBAI: Two patients, who suffered from progressive lung disease or severe emphysema and respiratory failure, were healed through valve replacement surgeries, a first-of-its-kind in the region, at the pulmonary unit of Dubai’s Rashid Hospital. The procedure, known as “endo-bronchial valve placement via bronchoscopy,” was performed on the two patients, aged 65 and 70 years, who suffered from lung hyperinflation, chronic emphysema, shortness of breath and respiratory failure due to smoking. Each procedure took about 45 minutes and was performed under local anaesthesia. The valves were successfully placed within the inflated lung by an endoscope and the patients were discharged within a day, said Dr Bassam Mahboub, consultant and head of Pulmonary Medicine Unit in Rashid Hospital. The therapeutic interventions were very successful and the patients left hospital the next day, he added. “Both the patients were smokers and their overall health and quality of life deteriorated to the level where medication alone would not suffice. They urgently needed medical intervention,” Dr Mahboub pointed out. He warned that smokers are at risk of chronic lung diseases ten times more than non-smokers. “The air sacs of smokers become inflated as a result of continuous smoking over the years. This results in difficulty in inhaling the air and weakening of the air walls, due to accumulation of chemicals and tobacco tar.” “Previously, surgery has been the treatment for emphysema, but with a success rate of only 50 per cent along with high possibilities of serious complications, whereas this new surgical procedure has resulted in a success rate of 95 per cent along with the possibility of discharging the patient within 24-48 hours of surgery,” he noted. Rashid Hospital is considered to be the first healthcare institution to implement and adopt this technology in the Middle East region, Asia and Africa. “This type of procedure is performed mainly in Germany and the United States. Introducing it in the UAE, the authorities are now looking at the possibility of applying this technique to all age groups; however, it mainly benefits elderly smokers who suffer from severe deterioration of the lungs,” Dr Mahboub concluded. see this new surgery for emphysema suffers

Easier Procedure for Emphysema, 5th US person

Easier Procedure for Emphysema

In this medical video learn about the fifth person in the US to have a new easier lung saving procedure shows Dr. Gerard Criner at the Temple Lung Center.

watch the informative video



http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xpf5vg_easier-procedure-for-emphysema_lifestyle

Procedure for lungs | breathing with emphysema

Looks like a new approach to reduce the total amount of damaged alveoli a quick video of this new procedure for lungs | breathing with emphysema

Breathe Easy AZ

Breathe Easy AZ Breathe Easy Arizona Now a national model for lung disease programs, the COPD Collaborative Program is funded by a grant from the Arizona Department of Health Services. Program goals include provider education, raising COPD awareness across Arizona, working with decision-makers to influence systemic change, and creating a forum for Arizona’s diverse COPD community. The Arizona COPD Coalition was created to provide not only a forum for the COPD community but to build energy in patient education. Respiratory Rallies began in Phoenix and Tucson in 2008 and evolved into a wide range of patient and provider education events, known as the Healthy Lung Expo, offered throughout the state. Coalition members have become active leaders for these educational events and have become an integral force in raising awareness of COPD through a presence in the program’s media campaign and public speaking. The COPD Collaborative Program and the coalition play an important role in serving those who are impacted by COPD all across the state. To learn more, please contact the program staff. see the official breathe easy az

a generic version of ADVAIR ? Seroflo

 a generic version of ADVAIR ?


The country's second largest drug firm Cipla has been in favour of alliances to grow its footprint. It has joined hands with the world's largest generic company Teva to sell its products in certain markets. This alliance could turn out to be the most critical for Cipla, reports CNBC-TV18's Archana Shukla.
The partnership, which begins for the Russian market, sees Teva provide the marketing muscle to sell Cipla's key inhaler brand Seroflo. Seroflo is the generic version of GSK's USD 8 billion combination inhaler brand Advair.




 see article on this Russian generic from generic major Teva

Potential new treatment for chronic lung diseases

Irish scientists find potential new treatment for smoking-related diseases College Dublin have found a potential new treatment for chronic lung diseases often associated with smoking. The approach could help tackle obstructive lung conditions including emphysema and chronic bronchities, which currently affect more than 100,000 people in Ireland. It would work by targeting a protein in the blood linked with pulmonary hypertension – high blood pressure in arteries in the lungs which can be fatal. The protein called ‘gremlin’ is produced by the body when oxygen levels in the lungs are reduced, for example by an obstructive condition. Professor Paul McLoughlin at the UCD School of Medicine said: When the lung is starved of oxygen, blood pressure in the arteries of the lung increases which damages blood vessels and makes it more difficult for the heart to pump blood, leading in many cases to heart failure and premature death. Scientists at the UCD School of Medicine found that when the genes of laboratory mice were altered to reduce the production of gremlin, the mice were protected from pulmonary hypertension. “These research findings suggest the potential for additional novel treatments of patients by designing drugs that block the actions of gremlin in the lung,” Prof McLoughlin said. It’s estimated that chronic obstructive lung diseases will be the third most common cause of death worldwide by 2020, as smoking rates in the developing world increase. see the complete article on this news for lung problems.......... http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-scientists-find-potential-new-treatment-for-smoking-related-diseases-361629-Feb2012/

Can I rebuild /replace my smoking damaged alveoli ?

I smoked for decades, is there anything I can do to recreate, rebuild or regenerate my damaged alveoli ? one Emphysema sufferer

$6.4 million to the Lung Repair and Regeneration Consortium at Duke University

The DCRI’s Scott Palmer to oversee the Lung Repair and Regeneration Consortium

—The Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) and the Duke Translational Research Institute (DTRI) were recently awarded a five-year, $6.4 million grant to develop and support the Lung Repair and Regeneration Consortium (LRRC). Scott Palmer, MD, MHS, director of the DCRI’s Pulmonary Research program is leading the project with support from DTRI Chief Operating Officer Victoria Christian.

The DCRI and DTRI will serve together as the administrative coordinating center, working closely with six research centers that make up the consortium. Awarded under separate grants, the research centers are located across the United States, including a center headed by Drs. Brigid Hogan and Barry Stripp from Duke and Dr. Scott Randell from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) created the LRRC to address the growing burden of lung disease and its importance in public health. According to the National Institutes of Health, respiratory disease is now the third leading cause of death in the United States, and for many lung conditions there are no effective treatments. Researchers in the consortium will focus on developing new regenerative and restorative therapies to reverse the debilitating effects of severe lung conditions such as emphysema, cystic fibrosis, and pulmonary fibrosis.
The consortium includes experts in numerous fields, including:

• Developmental biology
• Stem cell biology
• Pulmonary medicine
• Lung injury
• Genomics
• Nanotechnology
• Bioengineering

In addition to developing new therapies for lung repair and regeneration, the LRRC will also create a skills development core to train new researchers on the latest in pulmonary medicine. The DCRI/DTRI team will create a successful infrastructure to foster these multicenter, multi-disciplinary collaborations in support of the NHLBI’s mission to improve lung health through regeneration and repair research.
The consortium website will be available sometime in 2012.
 Please e-mail lrrc@duke.edu for more information.

Regenerative medicine for lung disease gets some funding

Regenerative medicine for lung disease focus of $2.5 million Penn grant

A study exploring lung repair and tissue regeneration to fight lung diseases by a team at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia has received a $2.5 million grant.

The grant was awarded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Lung Repair and Regeneration Consortium to six institutions, including Penn, according to a statement on Penn Medicine’s website. The grant money will be distributed over a five-year period.

Lung disease is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Cases of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are rising. Both diseases are thought to involve a chronic injury-repair cycle that leads to the eventual breakdown of normal airway structure and function, according to the statement.

 Penn’s research team will be led by Edward Morrissey, a professor of cell and developmental biology and director of the Penn Institute for Regenerative Medicine. It will seek to identify and characterize cell types that affect lung repair and regeneration, according to the statement. It will also look at developing new therapies to help patients with asthma and other airway diseases.

 

 

click for the original article, Regenerative medicine for lung disease at PENN

 

How smoking causes 'destructive' emphysema

How smoking causes 'destructive' emphysema

Exposure to smoking activates genes and portions of the immune system, causing inflammation that triggers life-shortening emphysema, a new study has revealed.

The scientists, including two from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, described the track the toxic smoke takes through the tissues and how they accomplish their destructive work.

"It's like walking into a crime scene," said Dr. Farrah Kheradmand, professor of medicine and immunology at BCM and a senior author of the report.

In their current work, the scientists took cells present in the "crime scene" apart, piece by piece to elucidate what occurred when, and how.

It is a complicated story that took more than four years for her, her co-senior author Dr. David Corry and members of their laboratories and colleagues in the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at BCM to unravel, she said.

"Previously, emphysema was thought to be a non-specific injurious response to long-term smoke exposure," she said.

"These studies show for the first time that emphysema is caused by a specific immune response induced by smoke.

"It is a combination of little genes affected by an epigenetic factor."

Epigenetics are factors that affect the way genes are expressed after DNA forms. Cigarette smoke is an environmental epigenetic factor.

"If you have enough genes affected by epigenetic factors strung together, it can tip you over into lung damage and emphysema. The inflammation that drives emphysema could also drive cancer development, a testable hypothesis that we have begun to pursue," said Kheradmand.

This study showed that the cigarette recruited antigen-presenting cells (cells that orchestrate the immune system's response to antigens) as co-conspirators in the lung-destroying crime, using specific genes that regulate proteins in their deadly role.
To uncover the cause of tobacco- induced emphysema, they studied mice exposed to conditions that closely simulated how humans smoke.

These animals developed the lung disease in three to four months. Certain inflammatory cells and genes proving crucial to the process, she asserted.

When they analyzed "gene chips" to screen the disease-causing antigen-presenting cells recovered from lungs with emphysema, they uncovered the gene for osteopontin, which promotes initiation of the inflammatory cascade that damages lungs.

Kheradmand added that mice that lacked this gene were resistant to emphysema.

The study has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. (ANI)

see the actual article about:smoking causes destructive emphysema

Was the CBS 60 Minutes special on stem cells wrong?

Was the  CBS 60 Minutes special on stem cells wrong?

Local Group Says Stem Cell Regeneration Worked For Themposted January 16, 2012

The CBS 60 Minutes broadcast on Sunday, Jan. 8, exposed shysters selling dead stem cells for $5,000, who falsely promised cures with these stem cells, but members of a local group said stem cell regeneration has worked for them.

“Unfortunately 60 Minutes failed to report the bigger exciting news on stem cells,” said Chattanooga resident Mary Alice Crápo, a member of adultstemcellfoundation.org and board member of 4CHEO.org, the Complimentary Health Educational Organization in Chattanooga.

She said, “The 60 Minutes broadcast lead viewers to believe that all stem cell therapy is fraud. What the public needs to know is that there are at least three natural products available that enable adults to increase their own adult stem cells.”
She said on July 30, 2011, she began adult stem cell enhancement which meant taking four capsules every morning. “In five weeks, it was obvious I no longer would need a cornea transplant. Dr. Izak Wessels, my eye surgeon, was impressed about the improvement of my vision especially my chronic dry eye in five weeks on adult stem cell stimulation. Five months later both of my eyes that suffered with chronic dry eye are producing tears off the top of the chart.”

She said Dan Robinson in Texas fell 30 feet 20 years ago. He states, “My entire body has regenerated in six months on a stem cell enhancement. I want to shout it to the mountain tops. After 22 years of suffering, I am 90 percent pain free. This year I can walk without stumbling and have improved from head to toe.”

Mrs. Crapo said, "So many people are experiencing major health rejuvenation with adult stem cell stimulation. The other side of the CBS 60 Minutes story needs to be told since it is an established medical fact that stem cells can rebuild a kidney, heart, liver, brain, joint, lung, vision and can basically rebuild any soft tissue in the body.

"The exciting news is that expensive costly surgeries to implant these stem cells aren’t necessary if you provide the ingredients or tools the body needs to make these amazing cells naturally.

There will be a meeting Monday, Jan. 23, at 6:30 p.m. at the Glass Building attached to the Village Market in Collegedale. On hand will be "first-person accounts from those who have already experienced amazing results with stem cell enhancement," she said.

Allan Fontenot from Cleveland, Tn., will be there to share his story. She said, "Allan’s eyes did not track together from birth until this year. Find out how adult stem cells changed his life and there will be others there as well sharing their stories."


see the adult stem cell foundation org website

Use of plastics for the production of human organs in a laboratory

The next big boom area for plastics in the medical market could be regenerative medicine, the production of human organs in a laboratory.
Harvard Bioscience, a leader in the field, estimates that the total revenue opportunity for disposables used in organ transplants is $728 million per year. That's based on an estimated global transplant market of

This trachea, produced in a bioreactor, is now providing fresh air for a 30-year-old American cancer survivor.

145,590 and a disposable cost per procedure of $5,000.
Until very recently, this concept was in the realm of science fiction. But scientists at leading institutions such as Wake Forest University, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the University of South Carolina and Cornell have been making steady progress growing a person's own stem cells on a synthetic structure, often bioresorbable, using bioreactors. Scaffolds are often made on bioprinters, which print out polymers in three-dimensional forms dictated by a CAD file.
Harvard Bioscience (Holliston, MA) estimates that the number of bioreactors needed for annual production is 26,212 at a unit price of $150,000. The company's forecasts imply that each bioreactor can make five or six human solid organs per year.
Dr. Harald Ott of MGH used a Harvard Apparatus lung bioreactor for the world's first regeneration and transplantation of a lung in a rat. Significant work on development of synthetic lungs has also been taking place at Draper Lab, Case Western Reserve University, and elsewhere.

In an important breakthrough, artificial organs were transplanted into  human patients in Sweden last year.
The tracheas in both procedures were grown in Harvard Bioscience's bioreactors that were produced in its regenerative medicine device business.
The second operation was performed Nov. 17 on Christopher Lyles, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen,  at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, by Paolo Macchiarini of Karolinska University Hospital, who led an

Stem cells are injected onto a synthetic structure in a bioreactor.

international team.  Nanofiber Solutions (Columbus, OH) designed and built the tracheal scaffold, and Harvard Bioscience produced a specifically designed bioreactor used to seed the scaffold with the patient's own stem cells.
The cells were grown on the scaffold inside the bioreactor for two days before transplantation into the patient. Because the cells used to regenerate the trachea were the patient's own, there has been no rejection of the transplant, and the patient is not taking immunosuppressive drugs.
David Green, president of Harvard Bioscience, commented: "We would like to congratulate Dr. Macchiarini and his team for successfully completing the world's second synthetic trachea transplant. This proves that the procedure is not a 'one off' but can be repeated. This is a significant achievement for regenerative medicine."
Harvard Bioscience's strategy in regenerative medicine is to create devices, not discover pharmaceuticals.
The types of devices that require plastics include:

• Bioreactors systems,
• Transplant transporters,
• Stem cell delivery systems,
• Nanofiber scaffolds, which can be any shape or size and made from nearly any synthetic or natural polymer, according to Nanofiber.
• Surgical instruments,
• Infusion pumps, and
• Physiological assessment analysis tools.

Typically, cell culture for life science research has been performed on flat, tissue culture polystyrene because it is cheap, optically clear, and many cells grow well on it.
Nanofiber Solutions scaffolds are engineered to mimic cellular-scale structures.  Plastics used include polycaprolactone nanofibers averaging less than a micron in diameter.  The fiber dimensions and specific physical properties are optimized to produce ideal synthetic in vitro models.  Nanofiber is an Ohio State University spinoff established in 2009.

One of the disable devices used in regenerative medicine is a transporter.

see the orginal article on replacement human parts