Review Series: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 3: Experimental animal models of pulmonary emphysema. Thorax

The use of genetically manipulated mice together with traditional animal studies are steadily increasing our knowledge of the factors important in determining alveolar formation and destruction in emphysema. A review of the animal models used to study emphysema is presented. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) is one of the commonest reasonsfor ill health worldwide, with 16 million individuals affected in the USA alone. It is ranked as the fourth and fifth highest cause of death in the USA and UK, respectively, with a mortality rate at least 14 times that of asthma.1 2 The single most important factor in the development of emphysema is cigarette smoke. Inhalation of cigarette smoke causes a chronic pulmonary inflammatory infiltrate of macrophages, neu