Novel and Emerging Blood Biomarkers in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Recent advancement in the field of pulmonary biomarker research has produced a large number of potential biomarkers that are clinically relevant in assessment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). There is an ongoing research interestfor new biomarkers and initially, compounds involved in the inflammatory cascade are potential candidates. Biomarkers are characteristics that are objectively measured and evaluated as indicators of biological or pathogenic processes, or responses to therapeutic interventions, and may provide information on the prognosis or progression of the disease and response to treatment. The developments of new technologies have generated a huge information data base and recent advances in biomarker research suggests that quantification of serum cytokines could play an important role in the diagnosis, classification, prognosis, and treatment response of COPD. They are more likely to be helpful in the management of airway diseases because of the heterogeneity of their pathobiology. However, there is a paucity of information regarding their reproducibility and correlation with outcome measurements in COPD. The emerging knowledge in the field of Blood Biomarkers provides an enormous potential for understanding the disease pathophysiology, for developing markers specific for long-term outcomes, and for developing new therapeutic strategies. This review is based upon the consideration of the properties of ideal biomarkers for different clinical and research purposes. The current review explores some of these issues together and also explores those promising biomarkers that have already been proposed and investigated or being studied.