[COPD: bronchial and systemic inflammation]

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is considered to be an inflammatory disease of the airways, in which there can be low-grade systemic inflammation. The etiology of this disease is multifactorial but is mainly due to an anomalous and amplified inflammatory response to tobacco smoke. This inflammatory response involves innate and acquired immunity. The latter is characterized by a Th1-type (CD8) response and its presence seems to be associated with progression to advanced stages of the disease. Currently, it is unknown whether bronchial and systemic inflammation are related or whether they act as independent compartments. Most of the available data on COPD are drawn from cross-sectional studies and consequently a causal relation between the possible inflammatory mediators and the genetic factors involved in pulmonary and extrapulmonary involvement in this disease cannot be established. Further studies are required that would allow the inflammatory response to be correlated with the distinct COPD phenotypes.