Fibrosis influences ageing yet no cure available, reveals a study

Fibrosis is a problem of thickening of tissues, which is often related to ageing. Sadly, there is still no remedy at hand. But now, researchers are using a new software tool to understand the disease better.

Fibrosis is a condition that develops with the thickening of tissues and one which mostly affects the lungs and hepatic tissues. Yet, till date no effective therapeutic treatment has been developed, according to a new study. This problem is more common in the developed world and accounts to nearly 45 percent of deaths.

Fibrosis, one of the age-related pathologies that disrupt organ functionality dramatically, is a progressive accumulation of extra-cellular matrix which occurs in a wide range of organs and potentially distort their structure and function.

Researchers at the US-based Insilico Medicine Inc utilised a new software tool to identify robust bio-markers of fibrotic disease and develop effective targeted therapy.

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“Fibrosis is one of the age-related pathologies that disrupt organ functionality dramatically. Currently, there are no approved anti-fibrotic remedy and no reliable fibrotic bio-marker,” said Eugene Makarev, Vice-President, Insilico Medicine Inc at Baltimore, in the study published in the journal of Cell Cycle.

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Currently, there are no approved anti-fibrotic remedy available, says the study.

This new system aimed to identify robust bio-markers of fibrotic disease and develop effective targeted therapy.

“Despite many efforts, fibrosis is often mis-diagnosed. Our system is supposed to help with proper and timely diagnostic,” added Makarev.

‘Regeneration Intelligence’ is a system that can detect hidden fibrotic molecular signatures based on a pathway network analysis.

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The system can identify specific fibrogenic molecular changes regardless of detecting platform and tissue of origin.

With broad screening across multiple fibrotic organs, the system identified pathogenic pathways that served as potential targets for the anti-fibrotic therapy.

This approach led to a selection of the list of small molecules and natural compounds by their ability to minimise the signalling pathway difference between a fibrotic and a healthy state of the tissue.