CFTRTreatment

== ====There are several ways to determine if an individual has Cystic Fibrosis. This can be done through genetic, blood, and sweat testing. Details about these processes are described below. ====

**Prenatal **
====Genes for the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator can now be screened to identify if the parent has the potential to pass down the mutation. If the mother is found to be a carrier, the child would have a fifty percent chance to become a carrier for the disease. The father would then be tested to determine if he is a carrier as well. If he is a carrier, then the child would have the ability to develop cystic fibrosis by inheriting two recessive alleles of the CFTR gene. ====

**Newborn **
====Genetic testing can also be done in the same fashion as stated above to determine if the child has the potential to develop cystic fibrosis. Blood sample are taken from every newborn to test for a variety of illnesses and cystic fibrosis is part of the mandatory screening. ====

[[image:prescottgenomics/CFsweattest.png width="581" height="348" align="right" caption="Normal versus Cystic Fibrosis sweat gland. "]]
====In cystic fibrosis, the CFTR chloride channel is faulty which inhibits chloride to be reabsorbed into sweat duct cells. Since this reabsorbtion does not occur, it is secreted in the sweat in higher levels than normal. Sweat tests are usually conducted on the forearm or thigh. Sweat is collected on a filter paper or guaze and is tested for chloride concentration. A chloride concentration of more than sixty millimoles per liter is indicative of cystic fibrosis (John Hopkins Medicine, 2006). ====


 * = **Chloride Concentration **
 *  (mmol/Liter) ** ||= **Result ** ||
 * Less than 40 || Normal ||
 * 40-60 mmol/L || Inconclusive ||
 * More than 60 || Abnormal ||

=<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Treatment =

**<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Gene Therapy **
====<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Gene therapy is understood by scientists to have the greatest potential for cure. This is because the lungs are the major area of pathology, which is accessible for treatment and the disease is a single, recessive gene disorder meaning that dosage effects may not be vital because heterozygous individuals have the functional CFTR protein. Lastly, infants who have the disease don’t display effects until later on in life, allowing a timeframe for intervention (Lee, et. al, 2005). ====

====<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Gene therapy can be delivered by adenovirus and catatonic liposomes. An adenovirus is prepared by inserting the corrected CFTR gene into the viral genome. This would infect the cells within the lung, leaving the corrected gene in those penetrated cells which would then be translated into the normal CFTR protein (Palca, 1994). This virus could be transferred to the affected individual by means of injection, inhalation mist, or even a drip that would come in direct contact with the lung tissue. ====

**Physical Therapy**

 * Drugs**

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Genomics Research >>

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