ABSTRACT
The global initiative workshop summary for chronic obstructive lung disease (GOLD) defines COPD as a disease state characterized by airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. The airflow limitation is usually both progressive and associated with an abnormal inflammatory response of the lungs to noxious particles or gases (1). This definition is of interest because, for the first time, the importance of the inflammatory component in COPD is highlighted inviting a broader look at the possible pathogenic events in COPD, beyond the classical, and limiting, proteinase-antiproteinase paradigm.
