Efficacy of Nebulized Unfractionated Heparin in Treatment of COPD Patients

Abstract

hronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a common, preventable and treatable disease that is characterized by persistent respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation that is due to airway and/or alveolar abnormalities usually caused by significant exposure to noxious particles or gases. The chronic airflow limitation that is characteristic of COPD is caused by a mixture of small airways disease (e.g., obstructive bronchiolitis) and parenchymal destruction (emphysema), the relative contributions of which vary from person to person. heparin has anti inflammatory effects as Heparin can inhibit the activation of a range of inflammatory cells, an effect that is due in part to the binding and neutralization of inflammatory mediators and enzymes released during an inflammatory response, that would otherwise go on to activate such cells. Likewise, certain enzymes and cytotoxic mediators released from these cells, involved in propagation of the inflammatory response and subsequent tissue damage and remodeling, have also been shown to be inhibited by heparin. Heparin has potential use in human inflammatory disease and was first assessed for this purpose in the 1960s, in small, subjectively assessed trials. More recently, in controlled studies, heparin has shown potential in the management of clinical asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).