People suffering from Cystic Fibrosis (CF) usually develop lung disease due to a defective host defense that allows bacterial infections in the airways. Furthermore, advanced CF patients cannot preform mucociliary transport (MCT), a process that traps and drives bacteria from the lungs through mucus flows in the epithelium…

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most frequent, lethal genetic disorder, affecting roughly 30,000 people in the United States. Early death occurs mainly from chronic lung disease caused by persistent lower airway infection and inflammation. There are several important airway pathogens that are detrimental to CF patients, such as Staphylococcus…

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given a Humanitarian Use Device approval to a novel device, the XPS™ and STEEN Solution™ XVIVO Perfusion System, which has the capacity to preserve donated lungs outside the human body for up to 4 hours before surgery into critically ill patients, including those…

Cystic Fibrosis is a serious genetic disease, with 1,000 new cases registered each year and more than 30,000 people affected in the US alone. Because the disease gradually debilitates lung function, it increases the probabilities of developing a lung infection, causing a major impact on a patient’s quality of…

While some prevalent diseases, such as cancer and heart disease, appear to be equally distributed throughout the world, other diseases tend to be more regional, based on both genetic predispositions and environment. In the case of diseases spurred on by environmental factors, such as Neglected Tropical Diseases, which…

Patients with cystic fibrosis are all too familiar with the fact that a single mutation — in particular, a mutation in the gene coding for the CFTR protein — can wreak havoc on an individual’s health. Those afflicted with cystic fibrosis commonly face a number of problems in their…

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa is a complex, formidable bacterial infection that is notoriously difficult to treat, particularly in patients with lowered immune response and who have Cystic Fibrosis. While the bacteria’s mode of operation, which involves targeting and infecting damaged tissue, is relatively well understood, the method by which Pseudomonas Aeruginosa adapts to…

Biopharmaceutical company AbbVie and the non-profit organization Cystic Fibrosis Research, Inc. (CFRI) recently announced a new partnership at the 27th National Family Cystic Fibrosis Education Conference (August 1-3.) The partnership will highlight the CF Chef program, which will help raise both funding and awareness on the…

Positive test results for Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ newest Phase 3 clinical trials may expand the population of cystic fibrosis patients suitable to take a Vertex-produced drug from only 4% to nearly 50%. “It’s going to potentially allow us to get a medicine to 22,000 patients around the world with the…

European Cystic Fibrosis Society (ECFS) president and Cystic Fibrosis Trust professor Stuart Elborn was one of the contributors of the latest breakthrough in cystic fibrosis (CF) research, and he believes that the positive results of two phase 3 studies of the drugs ivacaftor (Kalydeco) and lumacaftor may…