Genetic and environmental modulation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidit y and mortality throughout a large part of the western world. Although pers onal tobacco use has been implicated in a large number of these cases, it i s also true that only a fraction of smokers ever develop respiratory proble ms. Therefore, the question of host susceptibility and other environmental factors should be considered. This paper will briefly review evidence for h ost susceptibility to COPD, review evidence for additional environmental ri sk factors for the development of COPD, and give an example of environmenta l interactions with a known genetic risk factor that further increase the r isk of COPD. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.