Advances in acute COPD exacerbation: clarifying specific immune mechanisms of infectious and noninfectious factors

Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) is the main cause of hospitalization and death of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This is largely due to bacterial resistance caused by clinical antibiotic abuse and the limited efficacy of current treatment strategies in managing noninfectious AECOPD, which presents a significant challenge for clinicians. Therefore, it is urgent for clinical treatment and prevention of AECOPD to fully understand the specific mechanism of AECOPD in the immune system and master the key differences between infectious factors and noninfectious factors. This article systematically discusses AECOPD triggered by various factors, including the activation of immune system, the recruitment and activation of inflammatory cells and the role of specific inflammatory responses, and through a comprehensive review of the literature, this article expounds the existing targeted diagnosis and treatment methods and technologies at different stages in order to provide new ideas and strategies for clinical prevention and treatment of AECOPD.