Mast cells and COPD

The pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is based on the innate and adaptive inflammatory immune response to the inhalation of toxic particles and gases. Although tobacco smoking is the primary cause of this inhalation injury, many other environmental and occupational exposures contribute to the pathology of COPD. The immune inflammatory changes associated with COPD are linked to a tissue-repair and -remodeling process that increases mucus production and causes emphysematous destruction of the gas-exchanging surface of the lung. The common form of emphysema observed in smokers begins in the respiratory bronchioles near the thickened and narrowed small bronchioles that become the major site of obstruction in COPD. The inflamed airways of COPD patients contain several inflammatory cells including neutrophils, macrophages, T lymphocytes, and dendritic cells. The relative contribution of mast cells to airway injury and remodeling is not well documented. In this review, an overview is given on the possible role of mast cells and their mediators in the pathogenesis of COPD. Activation of mast cells and mast cell signaling in response to exposure to cigarette smoke is further discussed.