Mechanisms and Therapeutic Actions of Uridine Triphosphate in the Lung

Abstract

The lung’s primary function is gas exchange. However, during the process of respiration the lung is exposed to large quantities of potentially toxic and infectious agents from the ambient environment. To meet this challenge, the lung has evolved efficient ways of defending itself from such insults. In the alveolar region, the lung primarily defends itself from inhaled foreign material by the surveillance activity of a migratory cell, the alveolar macrophage. In the airways, the primary defense against inhaled foreign material is the mucociliary system, which traps foreign inhaled materials and clears them from the lung. The importance of this system to humans is demonstrated by the fact that genetic defects in components of this system, for example, cystic fibrosis and dysmotile cilial syndromes, lead to chronic, often fatal, pulmonary diseases.