Breakthrough Could Prevent Multiple Fibrotic Diseases: Tests Find Protein Stops Fibrosis In ...

... A scientific breakthrough at Rice University may lead to the first treatment that prevents the build-up of deadly scar tissue in a broad class of diseases that account for an estimated 45 percent of U.S. deaths each year. Fibrotic diseases include cardiac and pulmonary fibrosis, atherosclerosis, asthma, cirrhosis and scleroderma. Rice researchers have discovered a naturally occurring blood protein that's proven effective at preventing fibrotic scarring in lab animals. ...