Potential new drugs for therapy of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a major health problem with cigarette smoking as its major risk factor. Current therapies are directed against the symptoms (e.g., breathlessness and mucus production) or the chronic airway inflammation. However, the excessive annual decline in lung function and the airway inflammation have not yet been shown to be improved by these strategies. New potential drug therapies are directed against specific components of the inflammation. Novel drugs have been developed for treatment of inflammatory diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in order to antagonise cytokines and chemokines such as TNF-alpha, CXC chemokine ligand 8 (IL-8) or CC chemokine ligand 2 (monocyte chemoattractant protein 1) that orchestrate the inflammatory process. Some of these drugs are shown to be effective in patients with other chronic inflammatory diseases but still have to prove their efficacy in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.