Effect of doxycycline in patients of moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with stable symptoms
Background: The protease-antiprotease hypothesis proposes that inflammatory cells and oxidative stress in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) produce increased levels of proteolytic enzymes (neutrophil elastase, matrix metalloproteinases [MMP]) which contribute to destruction of parenchyma resulting in progressive decline in forced expirat