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Apoptosis as a therapeutic target for the treatment of lung disease

Patricia M de Souza1, Mark A Lindsay

  • 1Thoracic Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College Medical School, Dovehouse Street, London SW3 6LY, UK. p.desouza@imperial.ac.uk

Current Opinion in Pharmacology
|May 24, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Lung tissue damage in diseases like COPD and asthma may involve programmed cell death (apoptosis). Modulating this cell death process could offer new treatments for lung conditions.

Area of Science:

  • Pulmonary Medicine
  • Cell Biology
  • Pathophysiology

Background:

  • Lung tissue destruction is a hallmark of various acute and chronic respiratory diseases.
  • Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is increasingly implicated in the pathogenesis of lung diseases.
  • Specific alterations in cell death, including increased epithelial apoptosis and decreased inflammatory cell death, are observed in conditions like acute lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the role of apoptosis in lung tissue destruction across different respiratory diseases.
  • To investigate the potential of targeting apoptosis as a therapeutic strategy for lung diseases.

Main Methods:

  • Review and synthesis of existing literature on apoptosis in lung disease.
  • Analysis of associations between altered apoptosis and specific lung pathologies.

Main Results:

  • Increased endothelial and epithelial cell apoptosis is linked to acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and pulmonary fibrosis.
  • Decreased cell death of inflammatory cells is also associated with these lung conditions.

Conclusions:

  • Apoptosis plays a significant role in the mechanisms underlying lung tissue damage in various diseases.
  • Modulating apoptosis presents a promising novel therapeutic avenue for treating lung diseases.

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