ReviewThe European respiratory journal2026
The pathobiology and treatment of mucus plugs in asthma and COPD: state of the art.
Review in The European respiratory journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Artificial intelligence for mucus plug assessment: toward a new generation of airway imaging biomarkers.European radiology · 2026Article
- Preventing mucus plugs in COPD: a potential role for erdosteine.The European respiratory journal · 2026Article
- Characterization of mucus plugging in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: additional clinical significance of asthma-like features.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Recent studies using computed tomography have uncovered a high prevalence of airway mucus plugs in patients with asthma and COPD. These mucus plugs persist in the same airways for years and often occur in patients without symptoms of cough and sputum production. Mucus plugs associate strongly with measures of airflow obstruction and disease morbidity in both asthma and COPD, and they occur and persist despite treatment with high doses of inhaled and oral corticosteroids. Thus, airway mucus plugs have emerged as an underappreciated airway pathology in asthma and COPD and a cause of persistent airflow obstruction and disease morbidity that can be specifically targeted for treatment. This narrative review covers the pathobiology of mucus plugs in asthma and COPD with three areas of emphasis: 1) prevalence and clinical features; 2) mechanisms of formation and persistence; and 3) current and emerging treatments.
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Registered trials
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