ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the roles and importance of selected mediators in
chronic lung injury and fibroproliferation. A multiplicity of intracellular
and extracellular mediators,factors, and signaling pathways is relevant for
chronic lung injury, including many that are also involved in acute lung
injury. The pathophysiology and clinical importance of chronic fibroproliferative injury to the lungs have been detailed in the preceding Chapter 5.
The current chapter provides additional complementary coverage of med-
iators and pathways important in chronic lung injury and related clinical
diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Particular emphasis
in the discussion here focuses on the roles and interactions of four
mediators [tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), and transform-
ing growth factor beta (TGF-b)] in chronic lung injury and fibroproliferation. The importance of considering the interactions of these mediators in
the pathophysiology of chronic lung injury, rather than simply viewing
their individual activities in isolation, is also highlighted. Implications of
mediator activity and interaction for the treatment of clinical chronic lung
injury and disease are also noted in this chapter, although detailed
discussion of lung injury therapies is presented later in the book (Chapters 13-19).
