.... Much of this interest owes its existence to two observations in the early 1960s: firstly, the recognition that subjects with an inherited deficiency of α 1 -antitrypsin (α 1 -AT; the main serum inhibitor of proteolytic enzymes) had a high incidence of pulmonary emphysema [1], and secondly...

...D. C. S. Hutchison; R. Desai; D. Bellamy; H. Baum 1. The lysosomal enzymes of circulating polymorphonuclear leucocytes contain a potent elastase; release of this enzyme within the lung is thought to be responsible for the destruction of elastic tissue in pulmonary emphysema. 2. The release...