Potential new therapies for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
| Target | Candidate therapies |
| Smoking | Drugs acting on neural nicotine addiction |
| Oxidants | Antioxidants (e.g. stable glutathione analogues) |
| Resveratrol | |
| Inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibitors | |
| Leukotrienes | BLT1 receptor antagonists (LY 29311, SB 201146, BIIL284) |
| 5′-lipoxygenase inhibitors (zileuton, Bay×1005) | |
| Adhesion molecules | Anti-CD11/CD18, anti-ICAM-1 |
| E-selectin inhibitors | |
| Chemokines | CXCR2 antagonists (SB 225002) |
| CCR2 antagonists | |
| CXCR3 antagonists | |
| Cytokines | TNF-α inhibitors (infliximab, etanercept) |
| TNF-α converting enzyme (TACE) inhibitors | |
| Interleukin-10 and analogues | |
| Phosphodiesterase-4 | PDE-4 inhibitors (cilomilast, roflumilast) |
| Kinases and transcription factors | NF-κB inhibitors (IKK-2 inhibitors, proteasome inhibitors, IκB-α gene transfer) |
| p38 MAP kinase inhibitors (SB203580, SB 239063) | |
| PI-3 kinase-γ inhibitors | |
| PPAR activators | |
| Mucus hypersecretion | EGF receptor kinase inhibitors (gefitinib) |
| Calcium-activated chloride channel inhibitors (niflumic acid, MSI 1956) | |
| Fibrosis | TGF-β1 receptor kinase inhibitors |
| Fibroblast growth factor inhibitors | |
| PAR-2 inhibitors | |
| Proteinases | Endogenous antiproteinases: α1-AT, SLPI, TIMPs, elafin |
| Neutrophil elastase inhibitors | |
| Cysteine proteinase inhibitors | |
| Matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors | |
| Lung regeneration agents | Retinoic acid (all-trans retinoic acid) |
| Retinoic acid receptor-γ agonists | |
| Stem cells |
BLT1: leukotriene B4 receptor type 1; ICAM-1: intercellular adhesion molecule-1; CXCR: cysteine-x-cysteine receptor; CCR: cysteine-cysteine receptor; TNF-α: tumour necrosis factor-α; PDE-4: phosphodiesterase-4; NF-κB: nuclear factor-κB; IKK: inhibitor of IκB kinase; IκB-α: inhibitor of NF-κB; MAP: mitogen activated protein; PI-3: phosphoinositide-3; PPAR: peroxisome proliferation activated receptor; EGF: epidermal growth factor; TGF-β1: transforming growth factor-β1; PAR: proteinase-activated receptor; α1-AT: α1-antitrypsin; SLPI: secretory leukoprotease inhibitor; TIMP: tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases.