ABSTRACT
Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. They are well recognized in usual COPD to be a determinant of health status (1), and recurrent exacerbations relate to the decline in lung function (2). However, despite a multitude of studies measuring a variety of inflammatory mediators in exacerbations of COPD, the exact mechanism responsible for the cause of lung function decline remains uncertain.
