Future treatment strategies for COPD.

As the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is receiving increased attention from medical researchers. The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease now defines COPD as a progressive disease state characterized by chronic respiratory tract inflammation as well as airflow limitation that is partially reversible with appropriate treatment. The inflammatory pathway associated with COPD, although not well studied in the past, is also receiving more attention as medical researchers attempt to elucidate the cellular and molecular pathogenetic mechanisms that result in the development of COPD. Understanding the pathogenetic mechanisms will lead to new therapeutic strategies. The purpose of this review is to identify the known major therapeutic targets and the agents available to treat this devastating disease and some of the new agents that are being developed.