Elastic fiber damage is responsible for the distention and rupture of alveolar walls in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The current invention comprises a method of adjusting the a dosage of a drug that prevents such elastic fiber damage by employing a feedback loop consisting of measuring the levels of the unique elastic fiber breakdown products, desmosine and isodesmosine in body fluids, preferably sputum. The recent discovery that sputum levels of desmosine and isodesmosine are responsive to treatment with aerosolized hyaluronan in COPD patients makes dosage adjustment both feasible and desirable. This process of dosage adjustment may be applicable to any drug that prevents lung elastic fiber damage, such as alpha-1-antitrypsin, other anti-elastase agents, and antioxidants. It is anticipated that such dosage adjustment will become the “standard of care” in the treatment of COPD patients.
