Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a serious public health concern worldwide. By 2040, 4.41 million people are estimated to expire annually due to COPD. However, till date, it has remained difficult to alter the activity or progress of the disease through treatment. In order to address this issue, the best way would be to find biomarkers and new therapeutic targets for COPD. DNA methylation (DNAm) may be a potential biomarker for disease prevention, diagnosis, and prognosis, and its reversibility further makes it a potential drug design target in COPD. In this review, we aimed to explore the role of DNAm as biomarkers and disease mediators in different tissue samples from patients with COPD.

慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）是全球范围内严重的公共卫生问题。到2040年，由于COPD，估计每年有441万人死亡。然而，迄今为止，通过治疗改变疾病的活性或进展仍然很困难。为了解决这个问题，最好的方法是找到COPD的生物标志物和新的治疗靶标。DNA甲基化（DNAm）可能是疾病预防，诊断和预后的潜在生物标志物，其可逆性进一步使其成为COPD中潜在的药物设计目标。在这篇综述中，我们旨在探讨DNAm在COPD患者不同组织样本中作为生物标志物和疾病介质的作用。