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Review
. 2025 Jan 17;14(1):91.
doi: 10.3390/pathogens14010091.

The Importance of Lung Innate Immunity During Health and Disease

Gusty Rizky Teguh Ryanto  1 , Ratoe Suraya  2 , Tatsuya Nagano  2
Affiliations
Review

The Importance of Lung Innate Immunity During Health and Disease

Gusty Rizky Teguh Ryanto et al. Pathogens. .

Abstract

The lung is a vital organ for the body as the main source of oxygen input. Importantly, it is also an internal organ that has direct contact with the outside world. Innate immunity is a vital protective system in various organs, whereas, in the case of the lung, it helps maintain a healthy, functioning cellular and molecular environment and prevents any overt damage caused by pathogens or other inflammatory processes. Disturbances in lung innate immunity properties and processes, whether over-responsiveness of the process triggered by innate immunity or lack of responses due to dysfunctions in the immune cells that make up the innate immunity system of the lung, could be correlated to various pathological conditions. In this review, we discuss globally how the components of lung innate immunity are important not only for maintaining lung homeostasis but also during the pathophysiology of notable lung diseases beyond acute pulmonary infections, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and pulmonary fibrosis.

Keywords: COPD; asthma; lung infections; lung innate immunity; pulmonary fibrosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Changes seen in the innate immunity component during lung infections. Created in Biorender. Nagano, T. (2025). https://BioRender.com/a87c229 (accessed on 15 January 2025).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes seen in the innate immunity component during COPD. Created in Biorender. Nagano, T. (2025). https://BioRender.com/s24o223 (accessed on 15 January 2025).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Changes seen in the innate immunity component during asthma. Created in BioRender. Nagano, T. (2025) https://BioRender.com/z34r987 (accessed on 15 January 2025).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Changes seen in the innate immunity component during pulmonary fibrosis. Created in Biorender. Nagano, T. (2025). https://BioRender.com/y19r764 (accessed on 15 January 2025).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Summary of the changes in innate immune cells during lung diseases. ILC, innate lymphoid cells; cDC, conventional dendritic cells; pDC, plasmacytoid dendritic cells; NET, neutrophil extracellular traps; IL, interleukin; IFN, interferon; Th, T-helper cells; CXCL, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand; CCL, C-C motif chemokine ligand 2. Created in BioRender. Nagano, T. (2025) https://BioRender.com/h88m408 (accessed on 23 December 2024).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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