Although airway inflammation can persist for years after smoking cessation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the mechanisms of persistent inflammation are largely unknown.
Polosukhin, V. V., Cates, J. M., Lawson, W. E., Zaynagetdinov, R., Milstone, A. P., Massion, P. P., Ocak, S., Ware, L. B., Lee, J. W., Bowler, R. P., Kononov, A. V., Randell, S. H., & Blackwell, T. S. (2011). Bronchial secretory immunoglobulin a deficiency correlates with airway inflammation and progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 184(3), 317-327. https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.201010-1629OC (Original work published 2011)