Thorax
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Our understanding of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has changed dramatically over the past two decades. We have moved from an airflow limitation-centric view to the realisation that COPD is a complex and heterogeneous disease, which leads inevitably to the need for personalising the assessment and treatment of patients with COPD. This review provides a brief perspective of the extraordinary transition that the COPD field has experienced in the last two decades, and speculates on how it should/can move forward in the near future in order to really achieve the goal of personalising COPD medicine in the clinic.
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Alveolar macrophages (AM) in COPD have fundamentally impaired responsiveness to Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR4 ligands of non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI). However, the contribution of innate immune dysfunction to exacerbations of COPD is unexplored. We hypothesised that impaired innate AM responses in COPD extend beyond NTHI to other pathogens and are linked with COPD exacerbations and severity. ⋯ Our results support a paradigm of impaired innate responses of COPD AMs to respiratory pathogens, mediated by impaired TLR responses, underlying a propensity for exacerbations in COPD.
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There is epidemiological evidence to suggest that events in childhood influence lung growth and constitute a significant risk for adult COPD. The aim of the study is to evaluate for an association between childhood asthma and adult COPD. ⋯ Children with severe asthma are at increased risk of developing COPD.
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Editorial Comment
Trials of home mechanical ventilation in COPD: what have we learnt?