Inflammatory pathways are upregulated in the nasal epithelium in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

ABSTRACT: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is characterized by progressive scarring of the lung parenchyma, leading to respiratory failure and death. High resolution computed tomography of the chest is often diagnostic for IPF, but its cost and the risk of radiation exposure limit its use as a screening tool even in patients at high risk for the disease. In patients with lung cancer, investigators have detected transcriptional signatures of disease in airway and nasal epithelial cells distal to the site of disease that are clinically useful as screening tools. Here we assessed the feasibility of distinguishing patients with IPF from age-matched controls through transcriptomic profiling of nasal epithelial curettage samples, which can be safely and repeatedly sampled over the course of a patient's

SUBMITTER: Sala MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6257973 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature