University of Giessen Lung Center

Treating lung fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis represents a frequent and, unfortunately, still unresolved clinical issue. Lung fibrosis is often associated with inflammation and pulmonary hypertension, which can be a major cause of morbidity and mortality. In the presence of interstitial lung disease, systemic administration of vasodilators can increase blood flow to poorly-ventilated or non-ventilated areas of the lung by interfering with the physiological hypoxic vasoconstrictor mechanism, thereby worsening pre-existent ventilation/perfusion mismatch and shunt flow. The aim of this project is to investigate the effects of new agents on gas exchange, lung histology and lung function in bleomycin induced lung fibrosis. In addition we seek to develop new delivery systems for small molecule inhibitors or siRNA to mice. The current methods to deliver drugs into the lungs of mice are intratracheal or intranasal instillation which usually results in an inhomogeneous distribution of the compound in the lung. The relevance is the creation of the basis for the first clinical studies with small molecule inhibitor/siRNA therapy for lung fibrosis. This includes the optimization of the delivery systems as well as the acquirement of detailed knowledge of transfection efficacy and cellular localization in fibrotic tissue.