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From lung injury to fibrosis

Nature Medicine volume 14, pages 20–21 (2008)Cite this article

Two hallmarks of lung fibrosis are vascular leakage and recruitment of fibroblasts into the alveoli. Lysophosphatidic acid is now implicated as a major regulator of both parameters (pages 45–54).

Lung fibrosis often begins with coughing but, as scar tissue fills up the air sacs of the lung, can quickly progress to shortness of breath and fatigue. As the tissue thickens, it interferes with the ability of the lungs to transfer oxygen into the bloodstream. In an attempt to compensate, the vasculature sprouts numerous blood vessels, contributing to leakage of plasma and blood cells into the lung. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most common and devastating form of lung fibrosis, with an incidence of 6.8 per 100,000 persons1 and a median survival of three to five years2.

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Figure 1: A look at lung fibrosis.

Katie Ris-Vicari

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Klaus Ley is in the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, California 92037, USA. klaus@liai.org,

    Klaus Ley

  2. Alexander Zarbock is in the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University of Münster, Münster 48129, Germany.,

    Alexander Zarbock

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  1. Klaus Ley
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  2. Alexander Zarbock
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K.L. has a research contract consulting with Dompé Pharma.

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Ley, K., Zarbock, A. From lung injury to fibrosis. Nat Med 14, 20–21 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0108-20

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