Study Finds Cystic Fibrosis Drug Helpful to Treat Pneumonia

0
130
cystic fibrosis drug

As per the research completed by a group of scientists in Germany, a cystic fibrosis drug has been found effective to treat conditions like pneumonia. And now, there is a hope that this drug can prove effective against pneumonia regardless of its pathogen.

The above findings of the research team from Germany has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

You might be well aware that pathogens responsible to cause pneumonia are pneumococcus and SARS-CoV-2. In case, airways are filled with fluid, it can cause acute respiratory distress syndrome.

 

Study Finds Cystic Fibrosis Drug Helpful to Treat Pneumonia

The team of scientists have discovered a kind of molecular mechanism that can trigger fluid accumulation in lungs.

Please note that pneumonia happens to be the most common cause of building up of fluid in lungs. And the above condition is known as pulmonary edema.

It makes it effect in such a way that airspaces are filled with fluid instead of air. It prevents them for exchanging gasses. This creates problem as the patient finds problem in to breathe.

The above condition is also known as ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome). Most doctors and technicians find problems while treating patients with ARDS.

They say that despite the availability of cutting edge medical procedures, they face problems treating such patients due to the fact that antivirals, antibiotics and immune modulating therapies rarely work well against the ARDS.

This is the reason why they had to take an entirely different approach in their study. They said to have focused on tightening the barrier function of the blood vessels in lungs.

 

Also Read: How Flu Shots can give Surprising Health Benefits (Besides Preventing Flu)

 

 

Reference(s):

Lasti Erfinanda, Lin Zou, Birgitt Gutbier, Laura Kneller, Sarah Weidenfeld, Laura Michalick, Disi Lei, Katrin Reppe, Luiz Gustavo Teixeira Alves, Bill Schneider , Caihong Li, Diana Fatykhova, Paul Schneider, Wolfgang Liedtke, Eisei Sohara, Timothy J. Mitchell, Achim D. Gruber, Andreas Hocke, Stefan Hippenstiel, Norbert Suttorp SCIENCE TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE 7 Dec 2022 DOI