Anti-inflammatory Therapies for Lung Injury

This chapter examines anti-inflammatory therapies for respiratory diseases with a component of acute or chronic lung injury. As detailed in earlierchapters, a variety of mediators, factors, and pathophysiological pathwaysare important in innate pulmonary host defense and inflammatory lunginjury. Basic science understanding has elucidated multiple inflammation-related molecular processes that might be targeted in treating patients withpulmonary disease. Since the number of potential anti-inflammatory thera-pies and strategies is large, discussion in this chapter emphasizes five areasof lung disease and associated therapeutics-pulmonary infection (pneumonia), asthma, bronchitis, COPD, and fibrosing lung diseases. The utilityof traditional anti-inflammatory medications such as corticosteroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and immunosuppressants in treatingthese various conditions is described. However, primary importance isplaced on newer treatments or therapeutic strategies that disruptimmune-immune and immune-structural cell activation, target-specificproinflammatory mediators, or modulate the effector functions of residentlung cells. These newer approaches to the therapy of inflammatory lunginjury and disease all derive from basic science understanding and perspec-tives elucidated in earlier chapters. The specificity and scope of possibleanti-inflammatory interventions for pulmonary disease and injury can beexpected to become further refined and focused as basic mechanistic under-standing improves in the future.