New therapeutic targets revealed for lung fibrosis

Pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive inflammatory disease with high mortality and limited therapeutic options. A recent study showed that T cells expressing cell-surface proteins called PD-1 and CD4 play a critical, previously unrecognized role in pulmonary fibrosis. This work suggests that readily available, clinically approved therapeutics, such as the diabetes drug metformin or the cancer drug ibrutinib, could be viable therapeutic options for patients suffering from pulmonary fibrosis. The study, which was partly funded by the NHLBI, was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.