Current Drug Targets - Inflammation & Allergy - Current Issue

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a multi-component disease (including emphysema and chronic bronchitis which may or may not co-exist in the same individual) leading to a disease state characterized by poorly reversible airflow limitation that is usually progressive and associated with an abnormal inflammatory response of the lung. This disease constitute a major public health burden worldwide and the Read More

A major contributory factor to the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the inflammatory response to cigarette smoke. However, when those with COPD stop smoking, a continuous cycle of inflammation can lead to continued decline in lung function. Understanding the role of inflammatory cells in COPD is difficult because it is a mixture of diseases - bronchitis, small airways disease and emphysema - Read More

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterised by chronic obstruction of expiratory flow affecting peripheral airways, associated with chronic bronchitis (mucus hypersecretion with goblet cell and submucosal gland hyperplasia) and emphysema (destruction of airway parenchyma), together with fibrosis and tissue damage, and inflammation of the small airways. Inflammatory mediators include lipid m Read More

Smoking is the main etiologic factor in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Cigarette smoke produces an enormous oxidant burden on the lungs, which is exacerbated by the release of oxidants from inflammatory cells. There is considerable evidence that an increased oxidative burden occurs in the lungs of patients with COPD, and this may be involved in many of the pathogenic processes, such as direct injury to Read More

Structural changes in COPD are found in the central airways, peripheral airways, lung parenchyma, and pulmonary vasculature. Broadly there are two different pathways leading to the same physiologic phenotype: one centered on the small airways and involving mucosal inflammation and structural change, and the other centered on the parenchyma involving excessive proteolysis and /or disordered repair processes. A hig Read More

Mucus production, secretion and clearance are considered to play a critical role in maintenance of airway health, however in diseases such as COPD, epidemiological and pathological studies suggest that excess mucus contributes to airway plugging and decline in lung health. The airway surface epithelium is composed of a heterogeneous mix of cell types one of which, the goblet cell, is dedicated to the production of secr Read More

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The mechanisms by which cigarette smoke leads to the irreversible dilatation and destruction of terminal airspaces of the lung are being unravelled largely as a result of the explosion of studies in animals. At the forefront of this has been the use of genetically manipulated mice, and the evolution and understanding of different mod Read More

No currently available treatments reduce the progression of COPD or suppress the inflammation in small airways and lung parenchyma. However, several new treatments that target the inflammatory process are in clinical development. A group of specific therapies are directed against the influx of inflammatory cells into the airways and lung parenchyma that occurs in COPD; these include adhesion molecule and chemokine Read More