Potential new treatment to treat and stop progression of cystic fibrosis
"Right now there are multiple treatments for cystic fibrosis, and while these have improved life expectancy dramatically, there is still only a lifespan of about 40 years for patients. No one treatment can stand alone," said Allan L. Goldstein, Ph.D., co-author of the paper and Professor Emeritus in Residence of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences. "We developed a single treatment that can potentially correct the genetic defect that causes cystic fibrosis and decrease the inflammation that happens as a result." Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time, and it affects approximately 70,000 worldwide and 30,000 in the U.S. alone. Cystic fibrosis is the result of mutations in the gene encoding the protein called the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), which is important to maintain chloride-channel activity affectin...