lungs

COVID-19- and Flu-Ravaged Lungs Could Be Repaired with mRNA Therapy

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Ravaged Lungs Could Be Repaired with mRNA Therapy

Infection in lungs

Respiratory infections, such as those caused by SARS-CoV-2 or influenza, can damage the lungs’ delicate network of capillary blood vessels, compromising oxygen delivery and carbon dioxide removal. To overcome this damage, the lungs depend on the regenerative capacities of vascular endothelial cells. As valuable as these cells are, they can, according to University of Pennsylvania scientists, benefit from a little help.

The scientists, led by Andrew Vaughan, PhD, focused on a repair pathway involving vascular endothelial growth factor α (Vegfa) and the TGF-β receptor 2 (TGF-βR2). Using animal models and human tissue samples, the scientists showed that delivering Vegfa via lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) greatly enhances modes of repair for damaged blood vessels.

Details were published recently in Science Translational Medicine, in an article titled, “TGF-βR2 signaling coordinates pulmonary vascular repair after viral injury in mice and human tissue.”

“Mice deficient in endothelial Tgfbr2 exhibited prolonged injury and diminished vascular repair,” the article’s authors wrote. “Loss of endothelial Tgfbr2 prevented autocrine Vegfa expression, reduced endothelial proliferation, and impaired renewal of aerocytes thought to be critical for alveolar gas exchange.”

“We developed a lipid nanoparticle that targets the pulmonary endothelium, Lung-LNP (LuLNP),” the authors continued. “Delivery of Vegfa mRNA, a critical TGF-βR2 downstream effector, by LuLNPs improved the impaired regeneration phenotype of endothelial cell Tgfbr2 deficiency during influenza injury.”

Vaughan’s team and other investigators had previously shown that endothelial cells are among the unsung heroes in repairing the lungs after viral infections. But Vaughan’s team noted that its work demonstrated that a “more granular understanding of the fundamental mechanisms driving reconstitution of lung endothelium” could inform efforts to facilitate therapeutic vascular repair.

“Here we’ve identified and isolated pathways involved in repairing this tissue, delivered mRNA to endothelial cells, and consequently observed enhanced recovery of the damaged tissue,” Vaughan said. “These findings hint at a more efficient way to promote lung recovery after diseases like COVID-19.”

The team found Vegfa’s involvement in this recovery, while building on work in which they used single-cell RNA sequencing to identify TGF-βR2 as a major signaling pathway. The researchers saw that when TGF-βR2 was missing, it stopped the activation of Vegfa. This lack of signal made the blood vessel cells less able to multiply and renew themselves, which is vital for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the tiny air sacs of the lungs.

“We’d known there was a link between these two pathways, but this motivated us to see if delivering Vegfa mRNA into endothelial cells could improve lung recovery after disease-related injury,” said first author Gan Zhao, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the Vaughan laboratory.

The Vaughan laboratory then reached out to Michael J. Mitchell, PhD, of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, whose laboratory specializes in LNPs, to see if delivery of this mRNA cargo would be feasible.

“LNPs have been great for vaccine delivery and have proven incredibly effective delivery vehicles for genetic information,” said Mitchell, who is an associate professor of bioengineering at Penn Engineering and a co-author of the paper. “But the challenge here was to get the LNPs into the bloodstream without them heading to the liver, which is where they tend to congregate as its porous structure lends favor to substances passing from the blood into hepatic cells for filtration. So, we had to devise a way to specifically target the endothelial cells in the lungs.”

The Mitchell laboratory’s LNPs proved effective in delivering Vegfa into endothelial cells, and as a result, the researchers saw a marked improvement in vascular recovery in their animal models. Within the animal models, the researchers saw improved oxygen levels, and in some, the treatment helped them recover their weight better than the control group. These treated mice also had less lung inflammation, shown by lower levels of certain markers in their lung fluid, and their lungs showed less damage and scarring, with more healthy blood vessels.

“We’re looking forward to testing this delivery platform for other cell types in the lung, and it will be important to evaluate whether TGF-βR2 signaling is important in other injury contexts including chronic conditions like emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,” Vaughan said. “With this proof-of-concept being well validated, we’re sure that we’ll pave the way for new mRNA-based strategies for treating lung injury.”

Nutrition for the Lungs: Winter Foods

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One of the most important topics I discuss with patients on a weekly basis during the winter months is the importance of seasonal nutrition. During the colder months, I teach patients creative ways to use food and spices to warm the body, stimulate digestion, promote blood circulation, and nourish / protect the lungs.

As stated in the Su Wen: “Qi and Blood like warmth and are averse to cold. When there is cold, they are rough and cannot flow.” In this article, let’s discuss important foods and spices that are easy for patients to add to recipes to not only boost health and vitality overall, but also protect the health of the lungs during the predictable season of such challenges as RSV, flu, COVID, and influenza-like illness that all too often lead to upper respiratory issues.

Apples

Apples are one of my favorite winter foods. Although cooling in nature, this fruit is packed with nutrition for lung and digestive health. Apples enter the lung, large intestine, stomach, spleen, and heart channels; and have the flavors of sweet and sour. Tending to tonify qi and nourish yin, apples also clear heat and eliminate toxins.

Baked apples with spices such as clove, nutmeg, cayenne and cinnamon is a phenomenal dish to promote lung and digestive health, as well as warm the body and promote blood circulation.

Onions

Onions are another excellent winter food and can be prepared raw or cooked. In ayurvedic medicine, raw onions tend to be heating and stimulating, while cooked onions tend to be more tonifying and nourishing due to the sweet flavor.

Overall, onions are warming and enter the lung, large intestine, stomach, and liver channels; and have a pungent / sweet flavor. Onions help stimulate the circulation of qi and blood, disperse cold, clear damp, and resolve phlegm.

This food can be easily added to salads and soups, and can also be used to make an extremely effective topical poultice for recalcitrant coughs and cold / flu scenarios with significant cold symptoms coupled with deep-seated coughs.

Garlic

Known as da suan in traditional Chinese medicine, garlic is perhaps the most important food to have in the kitchen during the winter months. With its strong warming and dispersing characteristics, garlic moves qi and blood, warms the body, clears damp, eliminates toxins, disperses wind, and resolves phlegm.

Hot in nature, garlic enters the lung, stomach, spleen, heart, and liver channels. Its flavor can range from sweet to salty to acrid, depending upon the preparation.

A specific remedy for wind cold patterns, garlic is incredibly effective for protecting the lungs and resolving almost any bacterial / viral infection, particularly when eaten raw sprinkled on food. Depending upon the constitution of the patient, garlic can be taken daily with meals or reserved for acute health challenges.

Carrots

With their neutral temperature, carrots are sweet and tonify the qi. They enter the lung, spleen, and liver channels, and have the actions of circulating and tonifying qi, clearing heat, draining dampness, and eliminating toxins.

This vegetable can be eaten raw, but during the winter months it can be gently baked with spices and added to soups as well, making it an incredibly versatile food for deep nourishment during the winter months.

Cabbage

Neutral in temperature, cabbage is sweet / pungent and enters the lung, large intestine, and stomach channels. Its properties include circulating the qi, clearing heat, stopping cough, clearing toxins, and moistening the intestines.

Cabbage comes in many varieties and can be added to salads, soups and other recipes.

Swiss Chard

Cooling in temperature, chard is sweet in flavor and enters the lung, large intestine, stomach, and spleen channels. Chard clears heat and eliminates toxins; and can be steamed or sauteed, as well as minced / chopped and added to soups.

Sweet Potato

One of the most popular holiday foods, sweet potatoes are a wonderful source of nourishment. They have a neutral temperature, enter the large intestine, stomach, spleen, and kidney channels, and deeply nourish qi, blood, and yin, making sweet potatoes a unique and important food.

Adding cinnamon and even a small amount of cayenne to a sweet potato dish helps warm the body and move the blood. Combining carrots, sweet potatoes, and these spices makes a wonderful warming tonic for cultivating deep health.

Walnuts

Known as hu tao ren in TCM, walnuts are warm in temperature and enter the lung, large intestine, small intestine, and kidney channels. A deeply nourishing food, walnuts have a slightly sweet flavor and nourish the qi, warm kidney yang, warm the lungs, moisten dryness, resolve phlegm, and supplement the kidney jing. This wide range of benefits is particularly important during the cold winter months when patients are exposed to the drying effects of interior environmental heating, which can often dry out the lungs and mucus membranes.

Walnuts can easily be added to soups, salads, pasta, or just eaten as a snack.

Educate Your Patients

Teaching patients about healthy nutrition during the winter months is essential and should not be overlooked. Acupuncture and herbal medicine provide powerful winter support; however, nutrition is the foundation for deep vitality. Emphasizing warming and nourishing foods that enter the lung, large intestine, spleen, stomach, and liver channels also helps the body prepare for the spring season. Bon appetit!

What Is a Good Oxygen Rate by Age?

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  • Normal oxygen saturation levels (SpO2) are between 95 to 100 percent for both adults and children. 
  • Oxygen saturation levels below 95% are considered abnormal, and the brain may be affected when SpO2 levels drop below 80 to 85 percent. Bluish discoloration of the skin or mucous membranes (cyanosis) occurs when SpO2 levels fall below 67%.
  • However, older adults usually have slightly lower oxygen saturation levels than younger adults and children. People over 70 years of age may have oxygen levels closer to 95%, which can be normal for that age group, while normal SpO2 rates for infants and children are usually 97% and higher. 
  • Low levels of oxygen in the body’s tissues are called hypoxia. Low levels of oxygen in the blood are called hypoxemia. Both hypoxia and hypoxemia can occur separately, though they often occur together because when blood oxygen levels are low, the blood does not deliver enough oxygen to the body’s tissues. Hypoxia is often used to describe both low oxygen in the body’s tissues as well as low blood oxygen. 
ConditionSpO2 Levels
Normal95% to 100% on both adults and children
Abnormal (the brain may be affected)80% to 85%
Bluish discoloration of the skin or CyanosisBelow 67%

What Are Symptoms of Low Oxygen Saturation Levels?

Signs and symptoms of low oxygen saturation levels (hypoxia and/or hypoxemia) include:

  • Coughing
  • Fast heart rate
  • Rapid breathing
  • Shortness of breath
  • Slow heart rate
  • Sweating 
  • Wheezing
  • Headache 
  • Changes in skin color, ranging from blue to cherry red
  • Blue skin, lips, and fingernails 
  • Confusion
  • Disorientation

Hypoxia is a medical emergency. If you are experiencing symptoms of hypoxia, call 911 and get to a hospital’s emergency department (do not drive yourself).

What Causes Low Oxygen Saturation Levels?

Oxygen saturation levels can vary based on a person’s underlying health. There are many different conditions that can cause low oxygen saturation levels, which may include: 

How Are Low Oxygen Saturation Levels Diagnosed?

Low oxygen saturation levels (hypoxia and/or hypoxemia) are diagnosed with a physical examination. A doctor listens to the heart and lungs and will also look to see if the skin, lips, or fingernails have a bluish color. 

Tests used to check oxygen levels include:

  • Pulse oximetry
  • Arterial blood gas (ABG) test
  • Pulmonary (lung) function tests

What Is the Treatment for Low Oxygen Saturation Levels?

Low oxygen saturation levels (hypoxia and/or hypoxemia) are a medical emergency and treatment involves administration of oxygen in a hospital. 

  • Oxygen is usually administered via a nasal cannula or a mask that covers the nose and mouth
  • Asthma medications or an inhaler may be used to help patients breathe
  • Steroids may be used to help reduce inflammation
  • Antibiotics may be given if there is an underlying infection
  • In severe cases:
    • Oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber
    • Mechanical ventilation (intubation)

10 supplements for COPD

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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a term for a group of chronic lung conditions including chronic bronchitis, refractory asthma, and emphysema. Several supplements and remedies may help ease COPD symptoms.

People with COPD find it increasingly difficult to breathe. Among other symptoms, they may experience coughing, wheezing, and a feeling of tightness in the chest.

Nutrition is very important for the 15.7 million peopleTrusted Source in the United States with a COPD diagnosis.

According to the COPD Foundation, people with COPD may need 430–720 more calories per day than other people due to the effort they need to exert breathing.

In fact, 25–40%Trusted Source of people with COPD are also dealing with malnutrition, which interferes with their long-term outlook.

At present, there is no cure for COPD. However, the American Lung Association suggests that eating a high fat, low carbohydrate diet can be helpful for people with breathing problems.

There are also several supplements and remedies people with COPD can try to support their medical treatment and help them manage their condition. Keep reading to learn more.

Vitamins

MoMo Productions/Getty Images

ResearchersTrusted Source have identified the following vitamins for COPD treatment and support:

1. Vitamin D

Many people with COPD have low vitamin D. Taking vitamin D supplements may help the lungs function better.

Taking vitamin D3 supplements for COPD can also protect against moderate or severe flare-ups.

2. Vitamin C

Low levels of vitamin C are linked to increases in shortness of breath, mucus, and wheezing.

3. Vitamin E

People experiencing a flare-up of COPD symptoms tend to have lower levels of vitamin E than people whose COPD is stable.

Other studies suggest that long-term use of vitamin E supplements may help prevent COPD.

4. Vitamin A

An older review notes one study found individuals with the highest intake of vitamin A had a 52%Trusted Source lower risk of COPD.

Minerals

Researchers have identified the following minerals for COPD treatment and support:

5. Magnesium

Magnesium supports lung function, but some COPD medications may interfere with the body’s ability to absorb it.

People should also exercise caution when taking magnesium supplements for COPD. It can interfere with some drugs and cause side effects.

6. Calcium

Calcium can help the lungs function, but some COPD medications may cause the body to lose calcium. This makes it even more important for people with COPD to consider increasing calcium-rich foods in their diet.

If a person cannot reach their calcium needs through diet, it may be necessary to take a calcium supplement.

Other supplements

Researchers have identified the following additional supplements for COPD treatment and support:

7. Omega-3 fatty acids

Increasing the intake of omega-3 fatty acids may reduce inflammation in people with COPD. Although omega-3s are present in fish, seeds, and nuts, some people take fish oil supplements to make sure they get enough of this nutrient.

8. Dietary fiber

Eating more dietary fiber may leadTrusted Source to a lower risk of COPD.

9. Herbal teas

Many people with COPD use the following teas to help reduce their symptoms:

  • green tea
  • chamomile tea
  • lemon balm tea
  • lime tea
  • linseed tea
  • sage tea
  • thyme tea
  • mallow tea
  • rosehip tea
  • mint tea

In fact, some research has shown that drinking green tea at least twice per day may reduce the risk of developing COPD.

10. Curcumin

Present in turmeric, curcumin is sometimes called a natural anti-inflammatory.

Some research suggests it may help treat the inflammation of the airways in COPD.

Read about some natural remedies for COPD here.

When to see a doctor

COPD is chronic and progressive, which means it does not go away and tends to get worse with time. People with COPD need to meet with their doctor regularly to monitor and manage their condition.

Even though prescription drugs cannot reverse the gradual decline in breathing capacity, they can help people with COPD manage their symptoms.

Also, getting regular flu shots can help people with COPD prevent illnesses that could cause serious complications. For these reasons, people with COPD need regular medical care.

Although taking supplements for COPD can be helpful, people with this condition need to speak with a doctor or other qualified healthcare professional about all the supplements they are taking or planning to take.

Vitamins, minerals, herbs, and other products may interact and interfere with COPD medications. They can also cause side effects.

Summary

COPD is a serious and chronic health condition.

Although there is currently no cure for this condition, medical treatment can help people manage their symptoms. Using herbal and nutritional supplements for COPD may also help with symptom management.

Before taking any supplements, a

Effects of Smoking Marijuana on the Lungs

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(Stanimir G.Stoev/Shutterstock)

There is unequivocal evidence that regular cannabis smoking causes acute lung inflammation, but what are the long-term consequences?

“There is unequivocal evidence that habitual or regular marijuana smoking is not harmless and causes respiratory symptoms and airway inflammation.” If you take biopsies from the airways of those that smoke crack, cannabis, or tobacco, compared to nonsmokers, there is significantly more damage in the lungs of crack smokers, marijuana smokers, and tobacco smokers. And, the levels of damage seemed comparable—especially between the marijuana smokers and tobacco smokers—which is remarkable, since the tobacco smokers were smoking about a pack a day, whereas the marijuana smokers were only smoking about 20 joints a week, rather than 25 cigarettes a day. And those smoking crack were just doing a gram or two a week. So, to see similar rates of damage between marijuana smokers and cigarette smokers suggests each joint is way worse than each cigarette.

Indeed, we’ve known for 30 years that smoking three or four joints is the equivalent of smoking a pack a day of cigarettes, in terms of bronchitis symptoms and acute lung damage. How is that possible? Well, it may be the way they’re smoked. Pot smokers inhale more deeply, and then hold the smoke in four times longer, resulting in more tar deposition in the lungs. And, joints are more “loosely packed [and] unfiltered,” resulting in both “hotter smoke” and smokier smoke. So, even though in many ways smoke is smoke, the different “method of smoking” may explain how a few joints a day appear to cause as much inflammation as an entire pack a day of cigarettes.

“The visual evidence of airway injury was at times striking.” This is what your airways are supposed to look like—the tubes inside your lungs. This is your lung. This is your lung on tobacco; see how your airways get all inflamed? And, this is your lung on pot. You get the same kind of inflammation, and what’s crazy is that’s just five joints a day, compared to 26 cigarettes a day in the tobacco smokers.

If you compare the respiratory symptoms associated with marijuana versus tobacco, compared to nonsmokers, both marijuana smokers and tobacco smokers have elevated rates of chronic cough and excess sputum production, and acute episodes of bronchitis and wheezing. Now, when you quit tobacco, these respiratory symptoms eventually go away. Does the same thing happen with marijuana? What are the “effects of quitting cannabis on respiratory symptoms”?

About 30 to 40% of regular cannabis users suffer from cough, excess sputum, wheezing, and shortness of breath. A thousand young adults were followed for years, and in those who kept smoking, their respiratory symptoms got worse, or remained the same. But, those that quit tended to get better.

If we don’t quit, what are the long-term lung consequences? What about COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases), like emphysema? Even if smoking a single joint compromises lung function as much as up to five cigarettes, you’re still smoking 15 times less overall, and so, should end up with less long-term lung damage, right? That is, indeed, what’s been found.

Even long-term pot smokers don’t appear to suffer lasting lung damage. Follow people for 20 years, and an occasional joint appears to have no discernible effect on long-term lung function, though there may be some “accelerated decline” in function among those smoking joints every day for decades, and so marijuana “moderation” is suggested.

In other words, “a caution against regular, heavy marijuana usage is prudent.” But “even regular heavy use of marijuana [is nothing] compared with the grave pulmonary consequences of tobacco.” “Any toxicity of marijuana pales when compared with the greatest legalized killer in the world today.” In fact, the greatest risk to our lungs from marijuana may be that it can be a “gateway” drug to cigarettes.

Surprising new role for lungs—making blood

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lung
Lung tissue. 

Using video microscopy in the living mouse lung, UC San Francisco scientists have revealed that the lungs play a previously unrecognized role in blood production. As reported online March 22, 2017 in Nature, the researchers found that the lungs produced more than half of the platelets—blood components required for the clotting that stanches bleeding—in the mouse circulation. In another surprise finding, the scientists also identified a previously unknown pool of blood stem cells capable of restoring blood production when the stem cells of the bone marrow, previously thought to be the principal site of blood production, are depleted.

 “This finding definitely suggests a more sophisticated view of the lungs—that they’re not just for respiration but also a key partner in formation of crucial aspects of the ,” said pulmonologist Mark R. Looney, MD, a professor of medicine and of laboratory medicine at UCSF and the new paper’s senior author. “What we’ve observed here in mice strongly suggests the may play a key role in blood formation in humans as well.”

The findings could have major implications for understanding human diseases in which patients suffer from low platelet counts, or thrombocytopenia, which afflicts millions of people and increases the risk of dangerous uncontrolled bleeding. The findings also raise questions about how residing in the lungs may affect the recipients of lung transplants.

Mouse lungs produce more than 10 million platelets per hour, live imaging studies show

The new study was made possible by a refinement of a technique known as two-photon intravital imaging recently developed by Looney and co-author Matthew F. Krummel, PhD, a UCSF professor of pathology. This imaging approach allowed the researchers to perform the extremely delicate task of visualizing the behavior of individual cells within the tiny blood vessels of a living mouse lung.

Looney and his team were using this technique to examine interactions between the immune system and circulating platelets in the lungs, using a mouse strain engineered so that platelets emit bright green fluorescence, when they noticed a surprisingly large population of platelet-producing cells called megakaryocytes in the lung vasculature (see video S1, video S2). Though megakaryocytes had been observed in the lung before, they were generally thought to live and produce platelets primarily in the bone marrow.

“When we discovered this massive population of megakaryocytes that appeared to be living in the lung, we realized we had to follow this up,” said Emma Lefrançais, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in Looney’s lab and co-first author on the new paper.

 More detailed imaging sessions soon revealed megakaryocytes in the act of producing more than 10 million platelets per hour within the lung vasculature (see video S5), suggesting that more than half of a mouse’s total platelet production occurs in the lung, not the bone marrow, as researchers had long presumed. Video microscopy experiments also revealed a wide variety of previously overlooked megakaryocyte progenitor cells and blood stem cells sitting quietly outside the lung vasculature—estimated at 1 million per mouse lung.

Newly discovered blood stem cells in the lung can restore damaged bone marrow

The discovery of megakaryocytes and blood stem cells in the lung raised questions about how these cells move back and forth between the lung and bone marrow. To address these questions, the researchers conducted a clever set of lung transplant studies:

First, the team transplanted lungs from normal donor mice into recipient mice with fluorescent megakaryocytes, and found that fluorescent megakaryocytes from the recipient mice soon began turning up in the lung vasculature. This suggested that the platelet-producing megakaryocytes in the lung originate in the bone marrow.

“It’s fascinating that megakaryocytes travel all the way from the bone marrow to the lungs to produce platelets,” said Guadalupe Ortiz-Muñoz, PhD, also a postdoctoral researcher in the Looney lab and the paper’s other co-first author. “It’s possible that the lung is an ideal bioreactor for platelet production because of the mechanical force of the blood, or perhaps because of some molecular signaling we don’t yet know about.”

In another experiment, the researchers transplanted lungs with fluorescent megakaryocyte progenitor cells into mutant mice with low platelet counts. The transplants produced a large burst of fluorescent platelets that quickly restored normal levels, an effect that persisted over several months of observation—much longer than the lifespan of individual megakaryocytes or platelets. To the researchers, this indicated that resident megakaryocyte progenitor cells in the transplanted lungs had become activated by the recipient mouse’s low platelet counts and had produced healthy new megakaryocyte cells to restore proper platelet production.

Finally, the researchers transplanted healthy lungs in which all cells were fluorescently tagged into mutant mice whose bone marrow lacked normal blood stem cells. Analysis of the bone marrow of recipient mice showed that fluorescent cells originating from the transplanted lungs soon traveled to the damaged bone marrow and contributed to the production not just of platelets, but of a wide variety of blood cells, including immune cells such as neutrophils, B cells and T cells. These experiments suggest that the lungs play host to a wide variety of blood progenitor cells and stem cells capable of restocking damaged bone marrow and restoring production of many components of the blood.

“To our knowledge this is the first description of blood progenitors resident in the lung, and it raises a lot of questions with clinical relevance for the millions of people who suffer from thrombocytopenia,” said Looney, who is also an attending physician on UCSF’s pulmonary consult service and intensive care units.

In particular, the study suggests that researchers who have proposed treating platelet diseases with platelets produced from engineered megakaryocytes should look to the lungs as a resource for platelet production, Looney said. The study also presents new avenues of research for stem cell biologists to explore how the bone marrow and lung collaborate to produce a healthy blood system through the mutual exchange of stem cells.

“These observations alter existing paradigms regarding blood cell formation, lung biology and disease, and transplantation,” said pulmonologist Guy A. Zimmerman, MD, who is associate chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine and was an independent reviewer of the new study for Nature. “The findings have direct clinical relevance and provide a rich group of questions for future studies of platelet genesis and megakaryocyte function in lung inflammation and other inflammatory conditions, bleeding and thrombotic disorders, and transplantation.”

The observation that blood stem cells and progenitors seem to travel back and forth freely between the lung and lends support to a growing sense among researchers that stem cells may be much more active than previously appreciated, Looney said. “We’re seeing more and more that the stem that produce the blood don’t just live in one place but travel around through the blood stream. Perhaps ‘studying abroad’ in different organs is a normal part of stem cell education.”

“It has been known for decades that the lung can be a site of , but this study amplifies this idea by demonstrating that the murine lung is a major participant in the process,” said Traci Mondoro, PhD, project officer at the Translational Blood Science and Resources Branch of the NHLBI. “Dr. Looney and his team have disrupted some traditional ideas about the pulmonary role in -related hematopoiesis, paving the way for further scientific exploration of this integrated biology.”

 

Source:medicalxpress.com

How Alcohol Affects Your Lungs: Binge Drinking May Lead To Breathing Problems

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Binge drinking may be the reason it’s hard to catch your breath. Alcohol affects nearly every major organin the human body, including the brain, heart, liver, pancreas, and kidneys, but a team of researchers from Loyola University has found it can also make it harder for the lungs to breathe.

A new study, published in the journal Chest, reveals the first link between excessive alcohol consumptionand nitric oxide levels — a naturally produced gas that helps fight bacterial infections in the lungs. Study participants who had lower levels of the gas were also the excessive drinkers, while those who never drank had higher levels of nitric oxide. The more a participant reported drinking, the lower their levels, which told researchers that their bodies were less equipped to kill bacteria and fight off lung infections.

For the study, researchers combed through data from 12,059 people between the ages of 21 to 79 who were interviewed for a period of five years. They were asked how much and how often they drank, which grouped them into categories: never drinkers; nonexcessive drinkers; excessive drinkers; and formerexcessive drinkers. Excessive alcohol drinkers were considered women who consumed more than one drink a day on average and men who had more than two drinks a day.

Breathing problemsAlcohol abuse can lead to bacterial infections in the lungs.

“Alcohol appears to disrupt the healthy balance in the lung,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Majid Afshar, a pulmonologist at Loyola University’s School of Medicine, in a statement. “Lung doctors may need to take this into consideration.”

One out of every four Americans drinks to excess, which will lead to six alcohol poisoning deaths every day. Researchers will continue working to unravel the complex relationship between alcohol consumptionand the human body.

Afshar concludes: “Accounting for alcohol use levels should be an additional consideration, and further investigations are warranted to explore the complex interaction between alcohol and nitric oxide in the airways.”

Menthol and nicotine combined can be harmful for lungs

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Representational image.

 A new study has demonstrated that menthol acts in combination with nicotine to desensitize can be harmful for lungs.
Senior author Gerard Ahern, PhD, an associate professor of pharmacology at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC), said that in addition to desensitizing the receptors in the lung and airways, menthol appears to slow or prevent the recovery of sensitivity after the first insult, likely placing the receptors in a desensitized state.
Study co-author, Kenneth Kellar, PhD, a professor of pharmacology at GUMC, said that these receptors were also found in the brain, but they did not know yet what effect menthol had on those receptors, or whether they contribute, in any way, to nicotine addiction.
Ahern and his colleague say their study provides a better understanding of how menthol affects the function of the a34 receptor, one of the most prevalent nicotinic acetylcholine receptors expressed in the peripheral nervous system. These receptors are expressed in airway sensory nerves as well as other neurons.
Ahern added that the issue may be that menthol in the presence of nicotine may reduce the irritation enough that a smoker can inhale more deeply, bringing not just nicotine but toxic smoke products farther into the lungs.

Don’t Smoke? You Could Still Get Lung Cancer .

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If you think you’re safe from lung cancer because you’ve never smoked, think again. Being a non-smoker doesn’t mean you cannot get lung cancer.

While cigarette smoking is the No. 1 cause of lung cancer, you also can get it from breathing secondhand smoke, being exposed to asbestos or radon, or having a family history of lung cancer.

Many people think lung cancer always is the result of a personal choice to smoke cigarettes, and so don’t see lung cancer patients in the same light as, say, a breast cancer patient. However, the vast majority of people who die from lung cancer quit smoking long before they received a lung cancer diagnosis.

“There’s a huge stigma associated with lung cancer because the majority of people who die from it are either smokers or former smokers,” says oncologist Nathan Pennell, MD, PhD.

“But the fact is that anyone who has lungs can be exposed to toxins and develop lung cancer, so this is a disease that should concern everyone,” Dr. Pennell says.

Why people who don’t smoke should be concerned about #lungcancer
CLICK TO TWEET
One of the first questions people usually ask when they find out someone has lung cancer is, “Was he (or she) a smoker?”

“Tobacco smoke is one of the most addictive substances known to man, and addiction is a disease,” Dr. Pennell says. “Many people who smoke become addicted as teenagers. Whether you’re a smoker or not, nobody deserves to die from lung cancer.”

An under-funded area of research

More people in the United States die from lung cancer than any other type of cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is true for men and women.

But because of the stigma associated with lung cancer, it is difficult for researchers to get funding to try to find a cure.

“Public funding has a lot to do with politics, and public opinion doesn’t support lung cancer as it does the so-called ‘blameless cancers’ like breast cancer or prostate cancer,” Dr. Pennell says. “Those types of cancers also have a lot more survivors who can advocate for funding.”

There are not enough lung cancer survivors to demand change, Dr. Pennell says. “Those who do survive often blame themselves, so there is a smaller percentage of survivors who are willing to tell their stories,” he says.

New breakthroughs in lung cancer treatments

Despite funding difficulties, medicine has made progress in lung cancer diagnosis and treatments over the last several years. Genetic testing is one example.

“There are many different types of lung cancer. Genetic testing has helped researchers to develop therapies that target specific types of cancer cells,” Dr. Pennell says.

Immune-based therapies, in which the immune system is primed to attack tumors, also are showing potential for treating lung cancer, Dr. Pennell says. These therapies already have been approved for treating skin cancer.

Development of screening tools such as CT scans help with early identification of lung cancer, too, which Dr. Pennell says “could save tens of thousands of lives.”

“Unfortunately, we’re not getting much support from insurers to pay for them,” he says.

What you can do to help

Lung cancer research needs financial support, Dr. Pennell says. Advocating for support for lung cancer research could be the key to funding the research that discovers a cure.

“I would encourage survivors, especially those who never smoked, to advocate for lung cancer research and to let people know that progress is being made,” Dr. Pennell says. “We need to get the word out about how important this is to everyone, not just to those who smoke.”