The role of apoptosis in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease / Sandra Joy Hodge.

Abstract

In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) there is inadequate repair of the chronically damaged and inflamed airway epithelium. There is a school of thought that this inadequate repair may result from an accumulation of apoptotic material in the airways, resulting in secondary necrosis, tissue destruction and chronic inflammation. This thesis is an investigation of apoptosis and clearance of apoptotic cells on COPD using samples of peripheral blood, and bronchial brushings and bronchial lavage obtained from the airways during fibreoptic bronchoscopy. It also describes the development of a number of new methods to investigate the biologic specimens. The findings from this thesis indicate that failure to resolve epithelial damage and chronic inflammation in COPD may result, at least partially from increased apoptosis, increased activation of apoptotic pathways and defective clearance of apoptopic material by alveolar macrophages.