Sialic Acid-Binding Lectins as Potential Pathophysiological Targets in Treatment of Chronic Bronchopulmonary Diseases (Review)

The article is devoted to the problem of finding the pathophysiological targets for optimizing the treatment of common and socially significant chronic respiratory diseases -bronchial asthma (BA) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The balance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory mechanisms determines the nature of inflammation in these diseases. Among the regulators of inflammation there are siglecs -sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectins able to interact with terminal sialic acid present in all cells. Siglecs are involved in regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and implementing cell-cell interactions. The key role in modulating the regulatory activity of siglecs is in their ability to interact with ligands.