Research progress of microinflammatory state and disease severity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common respiratory system disease, with high incidence rate and mortality. So far, the pathogenesis of COPD has not been clearly determined. Microinflammatory state refers to the growth and reproduction of certain pathogens in the body due to bacteria, viruses and fungi infections, which causes inflammatory response of local tissues and the whole body, it is manifested by a slight and continuous increase of inflammatory marker proteins and inflammatory cytokines in systemic circulation. This article reviewed the literature on microinflammatory state and COPD. It is concluded that microinflammatory state will lead to the imbalance of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory mechanisms, which can cause ischemic and hypoxic destruction and injury of lung tissue cells, and further aggravate lung injury. The common inflammatory factors such as C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin (IL) in microinflammatory state are closely related to the severity of COPD, which may promote disease progression, continuously affect lung function, arterial blood gas and nutritional status of patients.