Genetic susceptibility, terminal bronchiole pathology, and inflammation: An integrated mechanisms of the pathogenic process in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Abstract excerpt

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains a leading cause of mortality yet understanding of disease initiation and progression is incomplete. Current therapeutic agents provide symptomatic relief but fail to halt disease progression, highlighting the urgent need to elucidate underlying pathogenic mechanisms, particularly in the preclinical and early stages before irreversible lung damage becomes...

Topics

• Humans
• Genetic Predisposition to Disease
• Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive
• Bronchioles
• Inflammation
• Genome-Wide Association Study
• Disease Progression
• Interferon-gamma
• Matrix Metalloproteinases
• Apoptosis