News

Gemcitabine, chemotherapy for solid tumors, may lead to PAH

Gemcitabine, a chemotherapy given to treat solid cancers, may drive the onset of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in patients or worsen existing PAH, a recent study reports. Stopping treatment with gemcitabine, with or without a subsequent PAH-approved treatment, led to clinical improvement or disease stabilization for a majority…

Higher Revatio dose not linked to increased mortality in PAH: Trial

Treatment with Revatio (sildenafil) at a higher dose than the recommended and previously approved doses did not significantly increase mortality of adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). That’s according to results from the Phase 3b/4 AFFILIATE trial (NCT02060487), which compared three treatment doses, each given three times…

FeNO levels may help diagnose severe idiopathic PAH: Study

Levels of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) — a measure of how much nitric oxide a person exhales — may be used as a diagnostic tool for severe disease in people with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (iPAH), a study has found. Specifically, patients with FeNO levels lower than 23…

Targeting HIF-2alpha protein may be therapeutic approach for PAH

Findings of a new study into pericytes — cells with multiple functions including immune cell regulation — suggest that targeting a protein known as HIF-2alpha, which is involved in the response to low oxygen conditions, or hypoxia, may be a potential therapeutic approach for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The…

Possible diagnostic biomarkers ID’d for COVID-19 complicated by PH

Researchers have identified two inflammation-related genes — SELE and CCL20 — whose activity could serve as diagnostic biomarkers for the development of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in people with COVID-19. Further, the team also identified molecules that target these biomarkers as possible therapeutic approaches for managing the complication. Overall, the…