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Pentraxin-2 is a member of the pentraxin family of proteins, which includes C-reactive protein (CRP), pentraxin-2 and pentraxin-3.1–3 When initially discovered and characterized, pentraxin-2 was known as serum amyloid P (SAP) due to its isolation from amyloid deposits in humans; subsequently, SAP was found to be in the sera from circulating blood and, hence, its designation as […]

Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by inflammation and/or fibrosis.1 Pulmonary fibrosis develops due to repeated cycles of injury and impaired repair with fibroblast activation and migration with the resultant deposition of extracellular matrix components.2,3 This injury may be mediated by environmental, infectious or immune-mediated pathways. Over time, these pathways can become […]

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a serious chronic lung disease which results in symptoms such as shortness of breath and dry cough and is caused by fibrosis of the lungs. It was a pleasure to talk with Dr. Steven D. Nathan (Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, VA, USA) to discuss the incidence, prognosis and pathology of […]

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) frequently complicates rheumatoid arthritis (RA).1 Moreover, it is more common among those who are male, smoke or are seropositive and with increasing age.1 Emergent risk factors include gain-of-function promoter variants in the MUC5B gene and telomere shortening,2 the latter possibly mediated by tobacco exposure.3 Among patients with RA, the predominant types of ILD are usual interstitial […]

TRAIL1 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02808871) was a phase 2 randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial investigating pirfenidone in rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD). We were delighted to speak to Professor Ivan O. Rosas (Baylor College of Medicine, Baylor Medicine McNair Campus, Houston, TX, USA) around the aims, design and inclusion criteria of the TRAIL1 study and […]

TRAIL1 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02808871) was a phase 2 randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial investigating pirfenidone in rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD). We were delighted to speak to Professor Ivan O. Rosas (Baylor College of Medicine, Baylor Medicine McNair Campus, Houston, TX, USA) around the prognosis, choice of therapeutic intervention and the rationale for investigating […]

Pirfenidone is an oral anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic drug that was approved for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in 2014. touchRESPIRATORY caught up with Prof. Jürgen Behr (Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich, Germany) to discuss the aims, design, and findings from his analysis of studies comparing the efficacy of pirfenidone in advanced vs non-advanced IPF […]

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a rare, progressive lung disease, in which the lungs become scarred making breathing difficult and most patients with IPF progress to advanced disease. It was a pleasure to talk with Prof. Jürgen Behr (Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich, Germany) around the unmet needs in the treatment of advanced IPF and the […]

Toby Maher, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, met with us at ERS 2019 in Madrid to discuss the results of a Phase II trial of pirfenidone in patients with progressive fibrosing unclassifiable ILD (uILD). Questions 1. What is the definition of unclassifiable interstitial lung disease (uILD) and what proportion of ILD patients are considered unclassifiable? (0:05) […]