Cause of lung inflammation identified in cystic fibrosis

The identification of this protein, called interleukin-23 (IL-23), is an important finding that gives researchers a specific target for developing new therapies that could potentially prolong the life of cystic fibrosis sufferers.

In June 2005, Children’s and University of Pittsburgh researchers, reported that IL-23 and another cytokine, interleukin-17 are elevated in cystic fibrosis patients with chronic lung infections. The latest research pinpoints IL-23 as the crucial mediator to this inflammatory response.

Examining IL-23’s importance in the inflammation pathway is a new approach according to Dr Patricia Dubin, an assistant professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, “currently, the anti-inflammatory therapies that we have for CF patients, steroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, are non-specific and can cause debilitating side effects.”

“The identification of specific inflammatory mediators like IL-23 opens the door to developing targeted anti-inflammatory treatments which may have fewer side effects,” she continued.

CF is an inherited disease characterized by an abnormality in the body’s salt, water and mucus-making cells. About 30,000 people in the US have CF. The life expectancy of a child born with CF is 36.5 years.