Using disinfectants could help superbug bacteria become resistant not only to the disinfectant itself but to antibiotics, even if they have not been exposed to them, according to a new study from Ireland: the findings could be important step in the fight to prevent superbugs spreading in hospitals...

Boston University School of Medicine's (BUSM) Pulmonary Center has received a two-year $1.4 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to derive stem cells and lung progenitors from patients with lung disease...

An increase in the number of screened carriers for cystic fibrosis (CF) was associated with a decrease in the number of children born with CF in northeast Italy, according to a study in the December 16 issue of JAMA. Some studies have suggested that there has been a progressive decrease in the incidence of newborns with CF in some areas...

Researchers have made an important discovery about the secret life of the defective protein that causes cystic fibrosis: while scientists already knew that CFTR protein regulates the acid-alkali balance in cells, what they didn't know, until this study revealed it, was what turns that ability on and off...

A team of researchers studying the protein that, when defective or absent, causes cystic fibrosis (CF) has made an important discovery about how that protein is normally controlled and under what circumstances it might go awry...

How does a cell manage to identify and degrade the diverse types of defective proteins and thus protect the body against serious diseases? The researchers Sabine C. Horn, Professor Thomas Sommer, Professor Udo Heinemann and Dr. Ernst Jarosch of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, have now found a crucial piece in this puzzle...

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) announced that the Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended that aztreonam for inhalation solution be approved for the treatment of infections due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF)...

In an encouraging new development, a team led by Scripps Research Institute scientists has restored partial function to lung cells collected from patients with cystic fibrosis. While there is still much work to be done before the therapy can be tested in humans, the discovery opens the door to a new class of therapies for this and a host of other chronic diseases...

Genta Incorporated (OTCBB: GETA) announced that the Company will supply Ganite® (gallium nitrate injection) for a new clinical trial that will be initiated in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) who may develop serious infections. Infection is the most common cause of death in CF patients...

Abstract: In patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), respiratory infections with the opportunistic bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa have a major impact on morbidity and mortality. Aminoglycosides, especially tobramycin, have been used successfully to combat these infections. Aminoglycoside penetration of bronchial secretions is poor when the antibiotic is administered intravenously. Nebulization allows direct delivery of the drug to the sites of infection within the airways, while avoiding systemic exposure. Published clinical data show that inhaled tobramycin reduces the bacterial load, improves lung function and reduces the number of hospital admissions. Inhaled tobramycin has been used successfully to eradicate P. aeruginosa in patients with early infection. Maintaining clinical benefits requires chronic tobramycin treatment, and the concept of chronic intermittent inhaled treatment (typically, alternating drug and drug-free periods of 28days) was introduced to minimize the emergence of aminoglycoside resistant P. aeruginosa strains. Other therapeutic advances include the development of different tobramycin formulations and nebulizers that reduce delivery time without compromising efficacy. An optimal treatment regimen for patients with CF with early or intermittent P. aeruginosa infections remains a high priority to maintain long-term lung health.