Ein TLR5-Polymorphismus ist mit dem Verlauf der COPD assoziiert

The aetiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is unclear. It is supposed to be the product of an exogenous antigenic stimulus, such as tobacco smoke, and an endogenous genetic susceptibility. It is possible that the individual genetic pattern determines the onset as well as the course of COPD. Toll-like receptors (TLR) are signal molecules, essential for the cellular response to bacterial cell wall components. TLR5 is the receptor for flagellin, a constituent of Gram-positive and -negative bacterial flagella. A functional relevant TLR5 polymorphism (TLR5392STOP) has been identified. We genotyped…