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CF lung infection lab model offers way to study antimicrobials

Researchers have developed a lab model of a cystic fibrosis (CF) lung infection that can help inform how antibiotic-resistant infections arise and to test antimicrobial treatment candidates. A human phlegm-like substance was generated where multiple types of microbes were able to grow into three-dimensional (3D) biofilms, the protective clusters…

Protective cell layers differ between upper and lower airways

Epithelial cells — the protective cells that line the airways — taken from people with cystic fibrosis (CF) exhibited distinct cellular and genetic features in lab cultures depending on whether they were obtained from the upper or lower airways, according to recent research. Those differences corresponded to distinct fluid-secreting…

Inhaled therapy ARCT-032 wins FDA orphan drug status for CF

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug status to ARCT-032, Arcturus Therapeutics’ inhaled experimental treatment for cystic fibrosis (CF). The designation is intended to encourage the development of therapies for rare diseases, or those affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. It provides incentives,…

Aspergillus infection linked to worse outcomes after COVID-19

Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients who are positive for the fungus Aspergillus and develop an allergic reaction to it experience worse outcomes after getting COVID-19, a study reports. The allergic response, called bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA), increases the risk of hospitalization and sepsis, a life-threatening immune system reaction to an infection, data show.