Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a slowly progressive, largely non-reversible pulmonary disease that is characterized by airflow limitation. The disease encompasses multiple structural and functional components, but inflammation is at the core of the disease affecting both the lungs and other organs. A number of studies have shown an increased oxidant burden and con-sequently increased markers of oxidative stress in the air-spaces, breath, blood and urine in patients with COPD. The presence of oxidative stress has important conse-quences for the pathogenesis of COPD. Excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) production is regarded as one of the causes of COPD, as it is known to damage tissues. As for antioxidants, there are various enzymes eliminating over-produced ROS. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) can be clas-sified into copper/zinc-SOD (CuZn-SOD), manganese-SOD (Mn-SOD) and iron-SOD (Fe-SOD), depending on differences in metals that are necessary for the activity. Trace elements such as Zn, Se, Mn, Cu and Fe are consid-ered to be essential for living organisms, and their supple-mentation effectively suppresses oxidative stress, inflam-mation and fibrosis, suggesting that the essential elements can potentially be used as therapeutic agents in the treat-ment of pulmonary inflammatory diseases. Trace elements concentrations in COPD patients are related to the role of each of the elements in the immune system.

Katedra farmaceutickej analýzy a nukleárnej farmácie Farmaceutická fakulta Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave Odbojárov 10 832 32 Bratislava

Katedra farmaceutickej chémie Farmaceutická fakulta Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave Odbojárov 10 832 32 Bratislava

Importance of trace metals in therapy of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

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