Archives of Hellenic Medicine

Last update:

07-Dec-2015

Arch Hellen Med, 32(6), November-December 2015, 701-712

REVIEW

Inflammatory mediators in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease:
Review of related pathogenic mechanisms and efficacy of novel targeted therapies

I. Pantazopoulos,¹ C. Kampolis,² K. Axiotou,³ A. Loukeri,⁴ G. Tsoukalas,¹ A. Koutsoukou⁵
¹Fourth Department of Respiratory Medicine, "Sotiria" General Hospital of Chest Diseases, Athens,
²Department of Pathophysiology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, "Laiko" General Hospital, Athens,
³Third Department of Internal Medicine, "Tzaneio" General Hospital, Pireus,
⁴Respiratory Intensive Care Unit, "Sotiria" General Hospital of Chest Diseases, Athens,
⁵Intensive Care Unit, First Department of Respiratory Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, "Sotiria" General Hospital of Chest Diseases, Athens, Greece

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major global health problem which is increasing in prevalence and is now the fourth leading cause of death in the US. The pathophysiological mechanisms that control the development and progression of this disease are complex, but accumulating evidence indicates that chronic inflammation and innate and adaptive immune responses play key roles. Suppression of the inflammatory response is therefore a logical approach to the treatment of COPD. This is a review of the current literature on selected lymphocyte-associated mediators and pro-inflammatory cytokines that have been particularly implicated in the pathogenesis of the disease, with a discussion of the potential role of novel targeted therapies.

Key words: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Inflammatory mediators, Interleukins, Ρro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α.