Airway Blood Flow Reactivity in Healthy Smokers and in Ex-Smokers With or Without COPD

Cigarette smoking is associated with a blunted vasodilator response to inhaled albuterol in the airway as an expression of endothelial dysfunction, with a partial recovery of albuterol responsiveness after smoking cessation in healthy ex-smokers but not in ex-smokers with COPD. In the latter group, combined glucocorticoid/long-acting β2-adrenergic agonist treatment restores albuterol responsiveness. The role of endothelial dysfunction in the physiopathology of COPD remains to be examined.