Why new biology must be uncovered to advance therapeutic strategies for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by the destruction of alveolar tissue (in emphysema) and airway remodeling (leading to chronic bronchitis) which cause difficulties in breathing. It is a growing public health concern with few therapeutic options that can reverse disease progression or mortality. This is in part because current treatments mainly focus on ameliorating symptoms induced by inflammatory pathways as opposed to curing disease. Hence, emerging research focused on upstream pathways are likely to be beneficial in the development of efficient therapeutics to address the root causes of disease. Some of these pathways include mitochondrial function, cytoskeletal structure and maintenance, and airway hydration, which are all affected by toxins that contribute to COPD. Because of the complexity of COPD and unknown targets for disease onset, simpler model organisms have proven to be useful tools in identifying disease-relevant pathways and targets. This review summarizes COPD pathology, current treatments, and therapeutic discovery research, with a focus on the aforementioned pathways that can advance the therapeutic landscape of COPD.

The efficacy and safety of high-flow nasal cannula therapy in patients with COPD and type II respiratory failure: a meta-analysis and systematic review

“…The main reason for the hospitalization of COPD patients is due to the continuous progress of the disease and severe respiratory failure [ 18 ]. Emergency tracheal intubation is often used during the treatment process, and invasive ventilator-assisted ventilation is required [ 25 ]. HFNC oxygen therapy is a new type of treatment that can provide patients with stable oxygen concentration, improve mucosal clearance, prevent nasopharyngeal dead space and open alveoli, so it has great clinical promotion value [ 26 ].…”

Human lung cDC1 drive increased perforin-mediated NK cytotoxicity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

“…Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a highly prevalent condition resulting from inhaled oxidants including cigarette smoke exposure ( 1 ). COPD is associated with airway remodeling, mucus hypersecretion, inflammatory cell infiltration, and tissue destruction, leading to largely irreversible lung function decline.…”

Prediction and enrichment analyses of the Homo sapiens-Drosophila melanogaster COPD-related orthologs: potential for modeling of human COPD genomic responses with the fruit fly

“…These features of the disease denote the necessity for in vivo animal research. Due to the complexity of the existing vertebrate models, the concept of using simpler model organisms such as D. melanogaster to identify COPD-relevant genes and pathways has been steadily gaining ground (16). In this study, we sought to predict the Homo sapiens-Drosophila melanogaster COPDassociated orthologs as a first step toward an in vivo functional analysis in the simplified and technically advantageous fruit fly model (17).…”