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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease pp 267–278Cite as

New Anti-inflammatory Drugs for COPD: Is There a Possibility of Developing Drugs That Can Fundamentally Suppress Inflammation?

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Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by persistent airflow limitation that is usually progressive and associated with chronic inflammation of the peripheral airways and lung parenchyma. The current therapeutic strategy for COPD consists mainly of the use of bronchodilators, such as long-acting muscarinic antagonists and long-acting beta stimulants. They reduce respiratory symptoms and exacerbations, but do not reduce airway inflammation or prevent disease progression. We have no effective treatments for suppressing airway inflammation in COPD. There are, however, several candidates as anti-inflammatory drugs that would fundamentally suppress airway inflammation in COPD and might prevent progression of COPD. This chapter discusses some of the most promising new therapeutic drugs that have been discovered and describes the status of development of anti-inflammatory drugs in the field of COPD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Respiratory Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan

    Yasuhiro Yamauchi & Takahide Nagase

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  1. Yasuhiro Yamauchi
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  2. Takahide Nagase
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Correspondence to Yasuhiro Yamauchi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tokyo Medical University Ibaraki Medical Center, Ibaraki, Japan

    Hiroyuki Nakamura

  2. Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tokyo Medical University Ibaraki Medical Center, Ibaraki, Japan

    Kazutetsu Aoshiba

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Yamauchi, Y., Nagase, T. (2017). New Anti-inflammatory Drugs for COPD: Is There a Possibility of Developing Drugs That Can Fundamentally Suppress Inflammation?. In: Nakamura, H., Aoshiba, K. (eds) Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Respiratory Disease Series: Diagnostic Tools and Disease Managements. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0839-9_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0839-9_14

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