RATIONALE
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a multicomponent disease. Autoimmunity can contribute to the pathogenesis of COPD.
OBJECTIVES
This study investigates the prevalence of circulating antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and anti-tissue (AT) antibodies, two common markers of autoimmunity, in COPD and their relationship with several components of the disease.
METHODS
We determi...