Bronchopulmonary dysplasia and emphysema: in search of common therapeutic targets.
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia of the premature neonate and emphysema of the adult lung are common diseases that are characterized by increased airspace size and respiratory insufficiency and that presently lack efficient treatment. Although the former leads to impaired alveolar development and the latter to alveolar destruction, they have striking similarities in their pathophysiology, including the precipitating effect of oxidative stress, sustained inflammation, enhanced apoptosis, protease-antiprotease imbalance, elastic fiber deterioration and altered microvascularization. This review aims to comparatively analyze their molecular mechanisms to try identify common therapeutic targets. The recent discovery that alveolar developmental and maintenance programs share the same signal molecules and pathways, together with considerable increase in their understanding, have facilitated the development of common innovative strategies that have started to be tested in experimental models and pilot clinical studies.
Bourbon
Jacques R
JR
Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM), Unité 955, Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale, Créteil, France. jacques.bourbon@inserm.fr
Boucherat
Olivier
O
Boczkowski
Jorge
J
Crestani
Bruno
B
Delacourt
Christophe
C
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D001997:Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D016922:Cellular Senescence / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007249:Inflammation / Q000503:physiopathology; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology; D011656:Pulmonary Emphysema / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*