COPD immunopathology
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The immunopathology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is based on the innate and adaptive inflammatory immune responses to the chronic inhalation of cigarette smoking. In the last quarter of the century, the analysis of specimens obtained from the lower airways of COPD patients compared with those from a control group of age-matched smokers with normal lung function has provided novel insights on the potential pathogenetic role of the different cells of the innate and acquired immune responses and their pro/anti-inflammatory mediators and intracellular signalling pathways, contributing to a better knowledge of the immunopathology of COPD both during its stable phase and during its exacerbations. This also has provided a scientific rationale for new drugs discovery and targeting to the lower airways. This review summarises and discusses the immunopathology of COPD patients, of different severity, compared with control smokers with normal lung function.
Date Issued
2016-05-13
Date Acceptance
2016-04-20
Citation
Seminars in Immunopathology, 2016, 38 (4), pp.497-515
ISSN
1863-2300
Publisher
Springer Verlag
Start Page
497
End Page
515
Journal / Book Title
Seminars in Immunopathology
Volume
38
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
License URL
Sponsor
Wellcome Trust
Grant Number
093080/Z/10/Z
Subjects
Immunology
1103 Clinical Sciences
Publication Status
Published