ABSTRACT
Acute exacerbations account for a high proportion of the medical costs for COPD, as
well as accounting for considerable morbidity. Prevention of exacerbations therefore
remains a major aim of therapy and novel drugs will be assessed for their ability to
prevent exacerbations. However, despite their frequency, there is relatively little
information about the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in an exacerba-
tion and an important focus for research in the future is to define the basic
mechanisms and the sequence of cellular and molecular events responsible for the
different types of exacerbation. This should lead to the more logical development of
therapy to prevent and treat exacerbations. An exacerbation may be an amplification
of existing pathology, or may represent an additional novel pathological mechanism
that is added to the existing pathology.
