The role of airway epithelium: insights into asthma and COPD pathogenesis

A recent study published in Frontiers in Immunology discussed how injury and abnormal repair of the airway epithelium drive chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. Study: Mechanisms of airway epithelial injury and abnormal repair in asthma and COPD. The present study discussed the mechanisms of airway epithelial injury and repair that drive asthma and COPD. Asthma and epithelial dysfunctionThe airway epithelium in asthma exhibits functional and structural abnormalities, such as exaggerated secretion of chemokines, cytokines, and alarmins. For instance, in COPD airway epithelial cells exposed to cigarette smoke extracts, hypomethylation of a gene promoter increased the expression of the repressor of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR).