Using mouse genomics to understand idiopathic interstitial fibrosis.

ABSTRACT: Idiopathic interstitial pneumonia represents a broad category of lung disorders characterized by scarring or fibrosis of the lung accompanied by varying degrees of inflammation. A number of important hypotheses based on clinical observations have substantially contributed to our understanding of the pathogenesis of the most insidious and devastating of the idiopathic interstitial pneumonias, idiopathic interstitial fibrosis (IIF). Patients with IIF usually present late in the course of their illness; thus, animal models of the early, preclinical stage of these diseases are needed. Although no model faithfully recapitulates the clinical course of disease or the histopathology observed in humans, all result in scarring of the lung and may therefore be used to understand the biological proces

SUBMITTER: Brass DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2647620 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature