Abstract: Chronic airway inflammatory disease is a kind of respiratory disease caused by infection and allergy with inflammatory and structural cells and some cytokines involved.Its etiology and pathogenesis is relatively complex, so far has not been fully understood.Cytokines play an important role in the generation and development of chronic airway inflammatory disease.In this paper, the role of cytokines in chronic airway inflammatory diseases is reviewed, with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) and asthma as examples.