Does lung aging have an impact on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?

[Aging of the respiratory system: anatomical changes and physiological consequences]

The respiratory system undergoes progressive involution with age, resulting in anatomical and functional changes that are exerted on all levels. The rib cage stiffens and respiratory muscles weaken. Distal bronchioles have reduced diameter and tend to be collapsed. Mobilized lung volumes decrease with age while residual volume increases. Gas exchanges are modified with a linear decrease of PaO(2) up to the age of 70 years and a decreased diffusing capacity of carbon monoxide. Ventilatory responses to hypercapnia, hypoxia and exercise decrease in the elderly. Knowledge of changes in the respiratory system related to advancing age is a medical issue of great importance in order to distinguish the effects of aging from those of diseases.

Potential effects of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor activator on LPS-induced lung injury in rats

Multiple factors contribute to the pathogenesis and prognosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD), still requiring new therapeutic strategies and medications for the disease. The aim of the present study is to investigate the model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced chronic lung injury and hyperinflation and test therapeutic effects of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma agonist. Wister rats were challenged with intra-tracheal instillation of LPS at concentrations of 0.006, 0.060, 0.600, and 6.000 mg/ml per kg, twice a week, for 1, 2, 4 and 6 weeks. PPAR activator, 15-deoxy-Delta12,14-prostaglandin J2 (15D-PGJ2), or vehicle (PBS) was administered orally and daily at the dose of 1 and 10 mg/ml per kg in animals challenged with LPS or PBS at the dose of 0.060 mg/ml per kg body weight twice a week for 4 weeks. We found that intra-tracheal exposure of LPS resulted in a dose-dependent pattern of chronic lung hyperinflation and hypertrophy, increased alveolar enlargement, reduced vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and elevated tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP)-1 levels in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, and early changes of leukocyte influx and interferon (IFN)-gamma levels in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. PPAR-gamma agonist ameliorated these changes related with the dose used.LPS-induced lung disease model shows some similarities with human disease, and PPAR-gamma agonist maybe an alternative for COPD therapy.

COPD as a disease of accelerated lung aging

There is increasing evidence for a close relationship between aging and chronic inflammatory diseases. COPD is a chronic inflammatory disease of the lungs, which progresses very slowly and the majority of patients are therefore elderly. We here review the evidence that accelerating aging of lung in response to oxidative stress is involved in the pathogenesis and progression of COPD, particularly emphysema. Aging is defined as the progressive decline of homeostasis that occurs after the reproductive phase of life is complete, leading to an increasing risk of disease or death. This results from a failure of organs to repair DNA damage by oxidative stress (nonprogrammed aging) and from telomere shortening as a result of repeated cell division (programmed aging). During aging, pulmonary function progressively deteriorates and pulmonary inflammation increases, accompanied by structural changes, which are described as senile emphysema. Environmental gases, such as cigarette smoke or other pollutants, may accelerate the aging of lung or worsen aging-related events in lung by defective resolution of inflammation, for example, by reducing antiaging molecules, such as histone deacetylases and sirtuins, and this consequently induces accelerated progression of COPD. Recent studies of the signal transduction mechanisms, such as protein acetylation pathways involved in aging, have identified novel antiaging molecules that may provide a new therapeutic approach to COPD.