Roflumilast effectively rescues CFTR-mediated chloride transport in vivo, further implicating CFTR activation as a mechanism through which roflumilast benefits patients with bronchitis.
Common airway disorders such as bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) also present CF-like symptoms such as mucus congestion and chronic inflammation without mutations in CFTR.
This study investigated which physiological factors (airway obstruction, ventilation inhomogeneities, pulmonary hyperinflation, development of trapped gas) best express the decline in lung function, and what role specific CFTR genotypes and different types of bronchial infection may have upon this process.
We propose that internalized P. aeruginosa may play an important role in the pathogenesis of infection and that, by allowing greater internalization into epithelial cells, mutant CFTR results in an increased susceptibility of bronchial infection with this microbe.