Ageing and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: interrelationships

Abstract

Purpose of reviewAs life expectancy increases, the ageing population accrues an increasing burden of chronic conditions and functional compromise. Some conditions that lead to compromise are deemed part of natural ageing, whereas others are considered to represent disease processes. Ageing (a natural process) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (a disease) share many common features, both pulmonary and systemic. At times, the pathways of injury are the same, and at times they are concurrent. In some cases, age and disease are separated not by the presence but by the severity of a finding or condition. This brief review aims to compare some of the similarities between ageing and COPD and to compare/contrast mechanisms for each. Recent findingsAt the cellular level, the natural process of ageing includes multiple systemic and molecular mechanisms. COPD, though defined by progressive pulmonary compromise, can also be a systemic disease/process. It has become evident that specific senescence pathways like p-16 and the sirtuin family of proteins are implicated both in ageing and in COPD. Also common to both ageing and COPD are increased inflammatory markers, leucocyte response abnormalities, and DNA-level abnormalities.

The Molecular Blueprint for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): A New Paradigm for Diagnosis and Therapeutics

“…Aging is a natural process, where, at the cellular level, it includes various molecular and systemic mechanisms. In several studies, the role of specific senescence pathways, such as sirtuin family proteins and p-16, has become evident and is implicated in COPD and aging [ 38 ]. Various common DNA-level abnormalities, leucocyte response abnormalities, and inflammatory markers were increased both in COPD and aging [ 38 ].…”