News

The presence of lung disease was low among infants with cystic fibrosis (CF) and was not associated with respiratory infections, yet respiratory symptoms, like cough or wheezing, may be a sign that lung disease is progressing, according to a recent study. “Respiratory symptoms in infants with CF deserve attention…

The frequency of cystic fibrosis-associated liver disease (CFLD) has increased in the past two decades and is linked to several simultaneous health complications, a U.S. study shows. CFLD was also found to be independently associated with a higher risk of mortality and increased healthcare resource use in children hospitalized due…

Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients with non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) lung infection show significant changes in airway metabolites relative to those without such infections, a study shows. Metabolites are intermediate or end products of cellular metabolism, and some of these altered metabolites play roles in immune responses and bacterial growth. Combining…

Infants with cystic fibrosis (CF) who are infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa in their first six months are at heightened risk of having impaired lung function by the time they are preschool age, a new study reports. The study also showed that lung function measurements and CT scan imaging in…

Cases of severe COVID-19 remained low during the first year of the pandemic in people in France with cystic fibrosis (CF), a study reported. Patients with severe lung disease or CF-related diabetes, as well as those who underwent a lung transplant, however, were at a higher risk of…

Scientists at the University of Southampton have created a new method that could be useful for rapidly identifying infectious bacteria in samples from people with cystic fibrosis (CF). Unlike currently used methods, this method does not require a time-consuming culture step where bacteria are grown in a laboratory. The…

Some people with severe asthma, an inflammatory lung condition, carry variants of the CFTR gene that causes cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic study found. These findings support the genetic assessment of severe asthma patients with CF-related symptoms, the scientists recommended. The study, “DNA Sequencing Analysis of…

Problems with the CFTR protein — which causes cystic fibrosis (CF) — limit the replication and spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in cells of the lung’s airways to protect patients, a study suggests. Cells lacking the CFTR gene responsible for that protein…

A natural compound called ectoine may help to improve the stability of the CFTR protein by modulating the activity of a molecular signaling pathway called AREG-EGFR-ERK, a study reported. Ectoine is a stress-protection molecule with water-retaining and potentially anti-inflammatory properties. The researchers suggested that ectoine, given in combination with CFTR…

CF-370, an expeimental therapy by ContraFect, reduces the number of hard-to-treat Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria in a rabbit model of pneumonia, an infection that inflames the lungs. P. aeruginosa, the most common cause of lung infections in people with cystic fibrosis (CF), can evade the body’s immune…