News

A number of cystic fibrosis discoveries, therapy advances and other developments were reported by Cystic Fibrosis News Today during 2017. Now that the year is over, it’s time to review the articles that appealed most to our readers. Here are the 10 most-read articles of 2017, with a brief description of what…

When two channels that are supposed to move chloride and sodium ions out of cells in the lungs fail to function properly, it leads to the mucus buildup seen in cystic fibrosis. Japanese researchers have discovered that the channel dysfunctions also reduce the amount of zinc ions going into the…

The overall rate at which women with cystic fibrosis are becoming pregnant dropped slightly in recent years — coinciding with the introduction of CFTR modulators and the clinical trials that led to their approval as CF therapies — but appears to be rising again to pre-trial levels, a study reports.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacteria that commonly infects cystic fibrosis patients. Now, researchers have designed a synthetic peptide that blocks the ability of these bacteria to cause disease. This discovery might be crucial in fighting infectious diseases and preventing bacteria from becoming resistant to nearly all the antibiotic drug options available.

British researchers have come up with a new way to screen for compounds that could be used to treat inherited diseases such as cystic fibrosis and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The approach also may work with gene therapies, whose aim is to overcome abnormalities stemming from defective genes. These abnormalities can cause…

A pancreas abnormality is a sign that young children with cystic fibrosis may develop diabetes later in life, a study reports. The abnormality is fewer cells that produce and regulate blood sugar. These beta cells are part of clusters of different cells that scientists call islets. Researchers published their work…

Researchers determined the structure of a calcium-activated chloride channel, called TMEM16A, which they suggest could offer a new way of treating cystic fibrosis (CF). The study by scientists at University of Zurich, Switzerland, reporting these findings is titled “Activation mechanism of the calcium-activated chloride channel TMEM16A…

One of the most frequently mutated genes in cancer, PTEN, in involved in the repeated lung infections that trouble cystic fibrosis patients — not because PTEN is abnormal in CF, but because it is unable to work with CFTR gene, which is mutated in this disease, to help clear the…

Preventing bacteria from communicating with each other may be a way to bolster the effectiveness of current cystic fibrosis (CF) therapies, a study reports. According to researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM), the use of quorum-sensing inhibitors can help to prevent the harmful effects of…

Mothers of young children with cystic fibrosis bear a heavier caregiving load than fathers, according to an Irish study. The research also showed that the caregiving burden increased as children grew older and when they became infected with the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Although University College Dublin researchers identified circumstances that could affect…