Lung microenvironments and disease progression in fibrotic hypersensitivity pneumonitis

Rationale: Fibrotic hypersensitivity pneumonitis (fHP) is an interstitial lung disease caused by sensitization to an inhaled allergen. Objectives: To identify the molecular determinants associated with progression of fibrosis. Methods: Nine fHP explant lungs and six unused donor lungs (as controls) were systematically sampled (4 samples/lung). According to microcomputed tomography measures, fHP cores were clustered into mild, moderate, and severe fibrosis groups. Gene expression profiles were assessed using weighted gene co-expression network analysis, xCell, gene ontology, and structure enrichment analysis. Gene expression of the prevailing molecular traits was also compared with idiopathi…