Table I.

Innate Immunity Changes Associated with COPD and Aging: Similarities and Potential Therapeutic Strategies¹

Parameter	COPD	Aging	Potential therapies
Epithelium
Junctional barrier integrity	↓	↓	Anti-EGF/EGFR
Ciliated cell integrity and function	↓	↓	augmentation of SLPI
Antimicrobial factor expression	↓	↓	glutathione aerosol
Macrophage
Number	↑	↑	anti-oxidants (Nrf2 activator, glutathione aerosol)
Phagocytotic capacity	↓	↓
Antimicrobial factor expression	↓	↓	macrolide antibiotics
Dendritic cell
Number	↓	↓↑	augmentation of elafin
Maturation	↓	↓
Capacity to activate T cells	↓	↓
Neutrophil
Number	↑	↑	PI3K inhibitors
Chemotaxis	↓	↓	glycophosphopeptical
Antibacterial potential	↓	↓	anti-oxidants (glutathione)
NK cells
Number	↓↑	↓	glycophosphopeptical
Activity	↓	↓	zinc supplementation

¹Abbreviations: COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; EGF, epidermal growth factor; EGFR, EGF receptor; SLPI, secretory leukoprotease inhibitor; SCGB1A1, secretoglobin 1A1 (commonly known as Clara cell protein CC10); Nrf2, NF-E2-related factor 2; PI3K, phosphoinositidine 3-kinase; NK cells, natural killer cells