Figure 1
From: The pathogenesis of COPD and IPF: Distinct horns of the same devil?
Pathogenic scheme of IPF and COPD. Summation of genetic and environmental factors underlay the abnormal renewal of either epithelial (left) or mesenchymal (right) alveolar components leading to parenchymal fibrotic obliteration and remodeling in IPF, or emphysematous changes and airway inflammation in COPD. The genetic background can be either hereditary (fully consistent with a "telomere dysfunction" as observed in familial IPF), or can variably provide a genetic susceptibility.