A test that examines the level of stem cells in a transplant may increase the chances of survival of patients after lung transplantation, reports the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
One or both lung transplants may be the only chance in diseases such as cystic fibrosis, emphysema, pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension.
However, in many cases the benefits of a transplant are canceled out by a serious complication – bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS). Scar tissue is growing in the patient’s lungs, making it impossible to breathe. BOS is the leading cause of death in patients who survived one year after lung transplantation. More than half of transplant recipients develop it within five years. There is no effective treatment.
Scientists from the team of prof. The Vibha Lamy of the University of Michigan hope their method will help predict BOS in advance and develop effective countermeasures. They found that people whose lungs increase the number of stem cells six months after transplantation more often develop BOS than patients with fewer of them. In addition to its diagnostic significance, the discovery could have therapeutic implications – if stem cells play an active role in BOS, acting on them could prevent this complication. Perhaps the work of scientists from the University of Michigan will also help in the treatment of other lung diseases, such as their idiopathic (with unknown cause) fibrosis (PAP).