Research Topic · Peer-Reviewed

Copd

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive, largely irreversible airflow limitation arising from chronic inflammation of the airways and lung parenchyma, encompassing chronic bronchitis and emphysema as its principal phenotypes. The obstruction reflects a combination of small-airway disease (obstr…

Curated from this journal's research 📚 12 peer-reviewed articles cited Cited 9× across the literature 🗓 Reviewed July 2026

Overview

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive, largely irreversible airflow limitation arising from chronic inflammation of the airways and lung parenchyma, encompassing chronic bronchitis and emphysema as its principal phenotypes. The obstruction reflects a combination of small-airway disease (obstructive bronchiolitis) and parenchymal destruction with loss of elastic recoil, driven predominantly by cigarette smoke and other noxious particulate exposures. Pathophysiologically, neutrophilic and macrophage-mediated inflammation, protease-antiprotease imbalance, and oxidative stress remodel the airways, producing dyspnea, chronic cough, sputum production, and recurrent acute exacerbations. Spirometry confirming a reduced post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC ratio underpins diagnosis and severity grading. Clinically, COPD is heterogeneous: phenotypes differ in symptom burden, exacerbation frequency, and comorbidity profile, including cardiovascular disease, metabolic dysfunction, and overlap with bronchiectasis. Research in this area spans the impact of bronchiectasis on exacerbation rates, characterization of comorbidities across phenotypes, claims-database approaches to severity classification, microalbuminuria and hypoxemia as systemic markers, and interventional strategies such as bronchoscopic lung volume reduction with endobronchial valves in severe emphysema. The International Journal of Thorax publishes peer-reviewed clinical and translational studies examining COPD phenotyping, comorbidity, functional assessment, and management across diverse patient populations.

Research published in this journal

12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.

How this research is being cited

The 12 articles above have been cited 9 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.

A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Copd, linking to each citing work.

Editorial oversight

Curated from peer-reviewed research published in International Journal of Thorax.

Journal editorial board
Hyunmin Choi · South Korea Dott Antonio Molino · Italy Christophoros Foroulis · Greece

This page summarises published research for orientation; it is not medical or professional advice.