The importance of C-reactive protein and other inflammatory markers in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a condition associated with inflammation in lungs and airways. The impacts of inflammatory process is not limited to respiratory system but extend to extrapulmonary organs with resultant complications involving endocrine, metabolic and cardiovascular systems. The extent and severity of inflammation may be partly estimated by serum measurement of several markers including serum CRP. Assessment of these markers can be useful not only for diagnostic or prognostic purpose but also for treatment evaluation of COPD patients. However, due to inconsistent results of published studies, at present the diagnostic or prognostic importance of inflammatory markers as well as their values in the evaluation of treatment outcome has not been accepted by all investigators. and so their routine applications require further studies. This review presents data in regard to the status of inflammatory markers at different stages of COPD patients and evaluates their predictive ability as well as their values in differential diagnosis or treatment evaluation.