ABSTRACT
An understanding of the role of nutrition in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) must begin with recent advances in the understanding of the pathophysiology of COPD. COPD is a genetic, particle-associated, cytokine-mediated inammatory disease of the pulmonary airways.1 The underlying prerequisite for the development of COPD is a complex genetic abnormality where products of certain genes interact with environmental stimuli to produce an excessive response that results in clinical expression of the disease. This genetic variation in the host response to the toxic gases and particles present in the environment contributes to our understanding of why only a fraction of smokers of the same age and gender who have smoked equivalent amounts develop COPD.2
Only a fraction of smokers of the same age and gender who have smoked equivalent amounts develop COPD.3 Epidemiologic tools have helped delineate several predisposing host factors, including alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, genetically induced airway hyperresponsiveness, exposure to tobacco smoke, air pollution, occupational exposure, lung maturity at birth, and socioeconomic status. Several aspects of nutrition, including diet, genetic variation in nutrient needs, metabolic response to toxicants, and obesity, can be predisposing factors.
