Abstract
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a treatable and preventable disease state, characterised by progressive airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. Although COPD is primarily a disease of the lungs there is now an appreciation that many of the manifestations of disease are outside the lung, leading to the notion that COPD is a systemic disease. Currently, diagnosis of COPD relies on largely descriptive measures to enable classification, such as symptoms and lung function. Here the limitations of existing diagnostic strategies of COPD are discussed and systems biology approaches to diagnosis that build upon current molecular knowledge of the disease are described. These approaches rely on new 'label-free' sensing technologies, such as high-throughput surface plasmon resonance (SPR), that we also describe.
Highlights
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) consists of three main respiratory pathologies; emphysema, respiratory bronchiolitis and chronic bronchitis
The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) classifies COPD into four stages; mild, moderate, severe and very severe according to spirometric measurements [16]
In an effort to identify biomarkers of COPD, several groups have looked at genetic susceptibility, gene expression or protein expression
Summary
The diagnosis of COPD is based on the presence of typical symptoms of cough and shortness of breath, together with the presence of risk factors, and is confirmed by spirometry. In an effort to identify biomarkers of COPD, several groups have looked at genetic susceptibility (single nucleotide polymorphisms; SNPs), gene expression or protein expression The observations from these studies have provided useful information and insights into the pathogenesis of COPD. Pinto-Plata et al went a stage further and used serum on a 'Protein Microarray Platform' (PMP), which provided data on 143 serum proteins of potential interest [50] This highlighted 24 proteins, which were up-regulated in disease, but it was acknowledged by the authors that the study was a proof of principle rather than a comprehensive analysis of all possible biomolecules related to COPD. General lung injury, lung cancer Lung cancer, asthma Asthma, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer, heart disease Pulmonary sarcoidosis, viral infections Asthma, rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis, leukaemia Severe asthma Sarcoidosis, lung cancer Asthma, lung cancer, idiopathic interstitial pneumonia, sarcoidosis Burkitt lymphoma, asthma, sepsis Crohn's disease, systemic lupus erythematosus Asthma Asthma, sarcoidosis Sarcoidosis, asthma, SARS, tuberculous pleurisy Lung cancer, asthma Lung fibrosis, lung cancer Lung cancer, cystic fibrosis Systemic inflammatory response syndrome, lung cancer, cystic fibrosis Lung cancer, heart disease, asthma Virus induced inflammation, HIV, asthma
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