Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - Pathophysiology

Pathophysiology

It is not fully understood how tobacco smoke and other inhaled particles damage the lungs to cause COPD. The most important processes causing lung damage are:

• Oxidative stress produced by the high concentrations of free radicals in tobacco smoke
• Cytokine release due to inflammation as the body responds to irritant particles such as tobacco smoke in the airway
• Tobacco smoke and free radicals impair the activity of antiprotease enzymes such as alpha 1-antitrypsin, allowing protease enzymes to damage the lung

Narrowing of the airways reduces the airflow rate to and from the air sacs (alveoli) and limits effectiveness of the lungs. In COPD, the greatest reduction in air flow occurs when breathing out (during expiration) because the pressure in the chest tends to compress rather than expand the airways. In theory, air flow could be increased by breathing more forcefully, increasing the pressure in the chest during expiration. In COPD, there is often a limit to how much this can actually increase air flow, a situation known as expiratory flow limitation.

If the rate of airflow is too low, a person with COPD may not be able to completely finish breathing out (expiration) before he or she needs to take another breath. This is particularly common during exercise, when breathing must be faster. A little of the air of the previous breath remains within the lungs when the next breath is started, resulting in an increase in the volume of air in the lungs, a process called dynamic hyperinflation.

Dynamic hyperinflation is closely linked to dyspnea in COPD. It is less comfortable to breathe with hyperinflation because it takes more effort to move the lungs and chest wall when they are already stretched by hyperinflation.

Another factor contributing to shortness of breath in COPD is the loss of the surface area available for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide with emphysema. This reduces the rate of transfer of these gases between the body and the atmosphere and can lead to low oxygen and high carbon dioxide levels in the body. A person with emphysema may have to breathe faster or more deeply to compensate, which can be difficult to do if there is also flow limitation or hyperinflation.

Some people with advanced COPD do manage to breathe fast to compensate, but usually have dyspnea as a result. Others, who may be less short of breath, tolerate low oxygen and high carbon dioxide levels in their bodies, but this can eventually lead to headaches, drowsiness and heart failure.

Advanced COPD can lead to complications beyond the lungs, such as weight loss (cachexia), pulmonary hypertension and right-sided heart failure (cor pulmonale). Osteoporosis, heart disease, muscle wasting and depression are all more common in people with COPD.

Several molecular signatures associated to lung function decline and corollaries of disease severity have been proposed, a majority of which are characterized in easily accessible surrogate tissue, including blood derivatives such as serum and plasma. A recent 2010 clinical study proposes alpha 1B-glycoprotein precursor/A1BG, alpha 2-antiplasmin, apolipoprotein A-IV precursor/APOA4, and complement component 3 precursor, among other coagulation and complement system proteins as corollaries of lung function decline, although ambiguity between cause and effect is unresolved.