# Fibrin-PET Imaging to Detect Aging Associated Lung Injury in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

> **NIH NIH R21** · RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL · 2020 · $46,517

## Abstract

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a severe, chronic, aging-associated respiratory illness of unknown cause
in which normal lung tissue is progressively replaced by scarring (fibrosis). This steady accumulation of
scarring leads to impaired lung function, difficulty breathing, and eventually death, with an average survival of
only 3-5 years after diagnosis. The current prevailing hypothesis is that IPF occurs as a result of aberrant or
over-exuberant wound-healing responses to repetitive, microscopic lung injuries, due to a complex interplay of
aging, host susceptibility, and environmental factors. One hallmark of lung injury is extravascular coagulation
with subsequent intra-alveolar fibrin deposition. The overall hypotheses of this project are that in IPF 1) there is
ongoing lung injury, 2) aging is associated with more severe lung injury, and 3) the extent of lung injury
correlates with disease activity and pace of progression. To assess ongoing lung injury in IPF patients, we will
use a novel molecular imaging technique, fibrin-PET, to measure lung fibrin deposition in human subjects.
Specifically, we propose the following:
Specific Aim 1: To determine whether ongoing lung injury can be detected in the lungs of IPF patients
by fibrin-PET imaging. We hypothesize that IPF patients have ongoing lung injury, and that increased lung
fibrin deposition is a manifestation of this injury. To test this hypothesis, we will perform positron emission
tomography (PET) with a fibrin-specific probe, 64Cu-FBP8, to compare lung fibrin deposition in IPF patients and
healthy controls.
Specific Aim 2: To determine whether aging is associated with increased lung injury in IPF. We
hypothesize that aging is associated with a greater extent of lung injury in IPF. To test this hypothesis, we will
determine whether the extent of lung fibrin deposition, as determined by fibrin-PET imaging, correlates with
increasing age in IPF.
Specific Aim 3: To determine whether the extent of lung injury correlates with disease activity in IPF.
We hypothesize that the extent of ongoing lung injury correlates with pace of progression, i.e. disease activity,
in IPF. To test this hypothesis, we will determine whether the extent of lung fibrin deposition, as determined by
fibrin-PET imaging, correlates with rate of forced vital capacity (FVC) decline in IPF.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10023256
- **Project number:** 5R21AG065602-02
- **Recipient organization:** RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Barry S. Shea
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $46,517
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-30 → 2021-09-10

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10023256

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10023256, Fibrin-PET Imaging to Detect Aging Associated Lung Injury in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (5R21AG065602-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10023256. Licensed CC0.

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