Scientists used human white blood cell membranes to carry two drugs, an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory, directly to infected lungs in mice. The nano-sized drug delivery method successfully treated both the bacterial growth and inflammation in the mice’s lungs. The study shows a potential new strategy for treating infectious diseases, including COVID-19. Source
Researchers determine how the SARS-CoV-2 virus hijacks and rapidly causes damage to human lung cells
Researchers have identified host proteins and pathways in lung cells whose levels change upon infection by the SARS-CoV-2, providing insights into disease pathology and new therapeutic targets to block COVID-19. Source
Repurposed mouse model sheds light on loss of smell in COVID-19
A repurposed mouse model can develop symptoms of both severe COVID-19 (lung damage, blood clots, abnormal blood vessels, and death) and also of milder disease, including loss of the sense of smell, according to a recent study. Source
New study explains important cause of fatal influenza
It is largely unknown why influenza infections lead to an increased risk of bacterial pneumonia. Researchers have now described important findings leading to so-called superinfections, which claim many lives around the world every year. Source
Scientists design model to predict cellular drug targets against COVID-19
A computational model of a human lung cell has been used to understand how SARS-CoV-2 draws on human host cell metabolism to reproduce. This study helps understand how the virus uses the host to survive, and enable drug predictions for treating the virus to be made. Source
Cooking with wood may cause lung damage
Advanced imaging with CT shows that people who cook with biomass fuels like wood are at risk of suffering considerable damage to their lungs from breathing in dangerous concentrations of pollutants and bacterial toxins, according to a new study. Source
Lung-on-chip provides new insight on body’s response to early tuberculosis infection
Scientists have developed a lung-on-chip model to study how the body responds to early tuberculosis (TB) infection. Source
T-cell abnormalities in severe COVID-19 cases
Researchers performed a genetic analysis of T cells from lung tissue of COVID-19 patients. They found abnormalities that resulted in T cell overreaction that may cause severe pneumonia. Source
Three reasons why COVID-19 can cause silent hypoxia
To crack the mystery of what causes silent hypoxia, a condition when oxygen levels in the body are abnormally low, biomedical engineers used computer modeling to test out three different scenarios that help explain how and why the lungs stop providing oxygen to the bloodstream. Source
Early treatment with lorlatinib improves survival in some lung cancer patients
A new study finds that an FDA-approved medication improved survival and prevented metastasis when used as first-line therapy in lung cancer patients with alterations in the ALK gene. Lorlatinib dramatically reduced spread of cancer to the brain, a significant danger in ALK-positive patients. Source