Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

PubMed, the Internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an interesting article, entitled “Pirfenidone for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: therapeutic potential prompts further investigation” (Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 2005 Nov;14(11):1443-1447 ). Author is Antoniu SA from the Clinic of Pulmonary Disease, University of Medicine and Pharmacy ‘Gr.T.Popa’ Iasi, Romania. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a rare, progressive disease of the lungs with unknown aetiology. Based on the current pathogenetic hypothesis advocating the major role of fibrosis in IPF, novel antifibrotic agents are being developed for the treatment of this disease. Pirfenidone is an antifibrotic agent that demonstrated preclinical anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Earlier clinical studies showed that prifenidone could be efficacious for IPF treatment. Pirfenidone acquired orphan drug status in both Europe and the US for the treatment of IPF. The current randomised, placebo-controlled study authored by Azuma et al. further assesses its efficacy in IPF patients and searches for new potential efficacy end points in this setting. To access the full abstract of the article, click here.