Inhalation of TGF-β1 antibody: A new method to inhibit the airway stenosis induced by the endobronchial tuberculosis

Tuberculous tracheobronchial stenosis is a serious clinical problem because it can cause obstructive pneumonia, dyspnea on exertion even pulmonary atelectasis of the whole lung. More than 90% of the patients with EBTB have some degree of bronchial stenosis. The interventional therapy through bronchoscopy has been used as standard treatment to deal with the scar stenosis of EBTB routinely, which have showed significant effects to keep airway open. However the scar rapid growing and restenosis can often be seen in many patients. TGF-β1 has been demonstrated to play a very important role in scar formation. Some agents against TGF-β1 have been proved to inhibit the scar growing effectively. The level of TGF-β elevated in the BALF of EBTB patients suggests TGF-β be related to the pathogenesis of stenosis induced by EBTB. We hypothesize that inhalation of TGF-β1 antibody can neutralize the local TGF-β and reduce the level of this kind of cytokine so as to prevent the scar formation partially, and find a new pathway to deal with this tough clinical problem.