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Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema and is characterized by persistent airflow limitation. It is caused by long-term exposure to harmful particles or gases, leading to significant breathing difficulties and substantially impacting quality of life. Understanding the complexity and socioeconomic burden of COPD is vital for improving patient outcomes and addressing broader implications. This study assesses the self-reported physical activity levels of COPD patients in the United States using the 2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data, exploring the impact of demographic, socioeconomic, and healthcare access variables. Methodology The 2021 BRFSS data were analysed, focusing on 34,061 individuals diagnosed with COPD, emphysema, or chronic bronchitis. Fisher's exact test and the chi-square test were used to examine associations between self-reported physical activity levels and demographic (age, gender, race), socioeconomic (education, employment, income), and healthcare access (last routine check-up) variables, with 95% confidence intervals. Results Of the 435,780 BRFSS participants, 7.8% reported having COPD. Among these, 55% engaged in physical activity compared to 77.4% of non-COPD individuals. Physical activity levels were significantly lower among COPD patients (p < 0.001), with notable variations across age groups, genders, races, education levels, employment statuses, income categories, and time since the last routine check-up. Conclusions The findings reveal a significant disparity in physical activity between COPD patients and non-COPD individuals. These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to improve physical activity among COPD patients to enhance their health outcomes and quality of life.

In intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG), and some other immunoglobulin products, protein particles have been implicated in adverse events. Role and mechanisms of immunoglobulin particles in vascular adverse effects of blood components and manufactured biologics have not been elucidated. We have developed a model of spherical silica microparticles (SiMPs) of distinct sizes 200–2000 nm coated with different IVIG- or albumin (HSA)-coronas and investigated their effects on cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). IVIG products (1–20 mg/mL), bare SiMPs or SiMPs with IVIG-corona, did not display significant toxicity to unstimulated HUVEC. In contrast, in TNFα-stimulated HUVEC, IVIG-SiMPs induced decrease of HUVEC viability compared to HSA-SiMPs, while no toxicity of soluble IVIG was observed. 200 nm IVIG-SiMPs after 24 h treatment further increased ICAM1 (intercellular adhesion molecule 1) and tissue factor surface expression, apoptosis, mammalian target of rapamacin (mTOR)-dependent activation of autophagy, and release of extracellular vesicles, positive for mitophagy markers. Toxic effects of IVIG-SiMPs were most prominent for 200 nm SiMPs and decreased with larger SiMP size. Using blocking antibodies, toxicity of IVIG-SiMPs was found dependent on FcγRII receptor expression on HUVEC, which increased after TNFα-stimulation. Similar results were observed with different IVIG products and research grade IgG preparations. In conclusion, submicron particles with immunoglobulin corona induced size-dependent toxicity in TNFα-stimulated HUVEC via FcγRII receptors, associated with apoptosis and mTOR-dependent activation of autophagy. Testing of IVIG toxicity in endothelial cells prestimulated with proinflammatory cytokines is relevant to clinical conditions. Our results warrant further studies on endothelial toxicity of sub-visible immunoglobulin particles.