BECN1 and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Furthermore, we show a correlation between the level of circulating Beclin1 and the degree of airflow obstruction, which is consistent with a progressive defect in autophagy during COPD, and also with two features of accelerated aging already associated to COPD, cellular senescence12 and muscle wasting10, respectively evaluated by telomere length, ASMM and grip strength.