Thoracic Surgery<\/a>, who was first and corresponding author of the study.<\/p>\n\u201cCarbon dioxide has traditionally been viewed as simply a waste product of breathing,\u201d Shigemura said. \u201cBecause of this, elevated CO\u2082 in the blood \u2014 what we call hypercapnia \u2014 has often been tolerated in patients with lung disease, as part of a clinical strategy known as permissive hypercapnia. Our group at Northwestern has been challenging that view.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a series of experiments using mice and human lung tissue, scientists exposed subjects to high CO\u2082 levels under normal oxygen and pH conditions. Even without signs of inflammation or tissue destruction, the lungs showed significant structural changes, according to the study. These included thickening of airway smooth muscle, increased extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, and signs of vascular remodeling, all hallmarks of COPD.<\/p>\n
These changes were not due to increased cell proliferation, but rather to hypertrophy, or enlargement, of existing cells. Lung fibroblasts exposed to high CO\u2082 also began to resemble myofibroblasts, a cell type associated with fibrosis and tissue stiffening. Genetic analysis revealed that CO\u2082 exposure triggered expression of ECM-related genes, including\u00a0LTBP2, a known marker of myofibroblast activity.<\/p>\n
To test the relevance of these findings in humans, scientists cultured precision-cut lung slices from healthy donors and patients with COPD under hypercapnic conditions. The COPD samples showed even more pronounced remodeling, with increased smooth muscle thickness and collagen deposition.<\/p>\n
The study found that these CO\u2082-induced changes were at least partially reversible. Mice returned to normal air after CO\u2082 exposure showed reduced muscle thickening and ECM buildup, suggesting that therapeutic strategies aimed at lowering CO\u2082 levels \u2014 such as noninvasive ventilation \u2014 could help mitigate lung damage.<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether, these findings highlight CO\u2082 not just as a by-product of breathing, but as an active driver of lung disease, one that could be targeted in future therapies,\u201d Shigemura said.<\/p>\n
The study adds weight to the growing recognition of CO\u2082 as a bioactive gas with signaling properties, rather than a passive byproduct of respiratory dysfunction.<\/p>\n
The American Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society released clinical practice guidelines in 2019 and 2020 recommending the use of non-invasive ventilation in stable COPD patients with hypercapnia. Although this intervention is known to improve clinical outcomes, the underlying biological mechanisms remain incompletely understood. The findings provide mechanistic support for these therapeutic strategies, Shigemura said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the most surprising findings was the structural changes we saw in the pulmonary blood vessels. This suggests that hypercapnia might also play a role in the development of pulmonary hypertension, which wasn\u2019t something we initially set out to study,\u201d Shigemura said.<\/p>\n
The study also holds implications for environmental determinants of health, Shigemura said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough atmospheric CO\u2082 levels are far lower than those found in the human body, they are steadily climbing. Human activity is the main driver, but natural events such as volcanic eruptions and wildfires can also cause local spikes. This rising CO\u2082 doesn\u2019t just fuel climate change \u2014 it may also carry long-term risks for human health,\u201d Shigemura said. \u201cOur work highlights that elevated CO\u2082 may be an underappreciated risk factor \u2014 one that affects not only patients with lung disease, but potentially people living in different environments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source: Northwestern Medicine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The build up of carbon dioxide in the lungs may remodel airways and drive COPD progression, new research…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":174562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[104213,104214,104215,200,104216,79],"class_list":["post-174561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-genetics","tag-carbon-dioxide-co2-monitoring","tag-chronic-lung-condition","tag-copd","tag-genetics","tag-hypercapnia","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}