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MINI REVIEW article

Front. Med.
Sec. Hematology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1550716
This article is part of the Research Topic Exploring Endothelial Injury Syndromes: Mechanisms, Markers, and Therapeutic Potential View all 4 articles

Endothelial Dysfunction in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: An Update on Mechanisms, Assessment Tools and Treatment Strategies

Provisionally accepted
Giuseppina Marcuccio Giuseppina Marcuccio 1Claudio Candia Claudio Candia 2Mauro Maniscalco Mauro Maniscalco 1Pasquale Ambrosino Pasquale Ambrosino 3*
  • 1 Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Pulmonary Rehabilitation Unit of Telese Terme Institute, 82037 Telese Terme, Italy, Telese Terme, Italy
  • 2 Department of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
  • 3 Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Scientific Directorate of Telese Terme Institute, 82037 Telese Terme, Italy, Telese Terme, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a complex condition marked by chronic respiratory symptoms, such as cough and dyspnoea, and persistent irreversible airway obstruction, punctuated by acute episodes of exacerbations. COPD is associated with a significant mortality risk and several comorbidities, including cardiovascular diseases. The link between COPD, acute exacerbations and cardiovascular diseases has been recently acknowledged under the unifying concept of cardiopulmonary risk. In this context, endothelial dysfunction (ED) has been identified as a key contributor to the systemic manifestations of COPD and an early event in atherogenesis, thus potentially linking respiratory diseases and cardiovascular risk. Assessing endothelial dysfunction could therefore provide valuable prognostic insights into COPD, while targeting it may emerge as a promising therapeutic approach. Nonetheless, several aspects such as clinical assessment options and potential treatment strategies are still under debate, despite an intense research activity in recent years and promising results coming from the field of pulmonary rehabilitation medicine, which seems to be highly beneficial for the improvement of ED in COPD patients. On these premises, this mini review will aims to explore the intricate mechanisms connecting endothelial dysfunction with the cardiovascular risk associated to COPD, provide an updated overview of the pathophysiology of ED in the context of COPD, with a focus on its assessment and its potential as an attractive therapeutic target. emphasizing potential diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

    Keywords: COPD, Endothelial Function, cardiovascular risk, Disability, Exercise, Rehabilitation

    Received: 23 Dec 2024; Accepted: 20 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Marcuccio, Candia, Maniscalco and Ambrosino. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Pasquale Ambrosino, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Scientific Directorate of Telese Terme Institute, 82037 Telese Terme, Italy, Telese Terme, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.