The clinical respiratory journal
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Inflammation is an important constituent of the pathology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), leading to alveolar destruction and airway remodelling. ⋯ These findings suggest that the measurement of plasma biomarkers, such as IL-8/TIMP-1, may aid to discriminate patients with COPD from smokers at lower risk of developing COPD.
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Periodic exacerbations of symptoms are the major cause of morbidity, mortality and health care costs in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Dyspnea is the major factor affecting the comfort of patients in the exacerbation of COPD. In this study, we aimed to compare the value of forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV(1)) and inspiratory capacity (IC) measured before and after treatment in exacerbations and in the improvement in dyspnea. ⋯ We have shown a more dramatic improvement in IC compared with FEV(1) in patients treated as a result of acute exacerbation of COPD. These data suggest that IC may be more useful than FEV(1) during acute exacerbation of COPD. Moreover, IC better reflects the severity of dyspnea in these patients.