Interleukin-17A in the pathogenesis of elastase-induced emphysema in mice

Background: Recent studies show that interleukin (IL) -17A is highly expressed in the lungs of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and in the emphysematous lungs of mice after long-term cigarette smoke exposure. However, the role of IL-17A in the pathogenesis of emphysema is still unknown. In the present study, we examined the role of IL-17A in the development of elastase-induced emphysema using Il-17A gene-deficient (...