Deeper and Deeper into the Mechanisms of Prototypical Lung Diseases

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and bronchial asthma (BA) are very common pathologies, both of them being characterized by a chronic bronchopulmonary inflammation. This paper aims to present the mechanisms of the two pathologies in comparison, starting from the classical approach, entering the cellular level (effector cells), then the molecular one (lipid mediators, cytokines, chemokines, reactive oxygen species, proteases, ATP, cellular senescence markers), and finally addressing the mechanisms at the quantum level. It will be explained that electron transfer through the interfacial water is essential for all cellular energy metabolism associated events. It will also be presented how biochemical reactions do not occur instantaneously and randomly, but depend on exceeding a threshold of free energy of activation and satisfying steric requirements. Another important topic addressed will be the electron-accepting property of ionic reactive oxygen species (ROS) and how cellular metabolism is regulated by the formation and decomposition of collective ROS states (this is a quantum regulated phenomenon involving a large number of entangled ROS molecules simultaneously). Finally, it will be presented how these mechanisms are altered in COPD and BA as well as the consequences of pulmonary fibrosis at the quantum level. We believe it is important for physicians to understand how the principles of quantum physics applied to experimental biology deepen the understanding of the normality and disease origin at the level of subatomic particles, molecules, and their associated electromagnetic fields.