INTERLEUKIN-8 CONCENTRATIONS ARE ELEVATED IN BRONCHOALVEOLAR LAVAGE, SPUTUM, AND SERA OF CHILDREN WITH CYSTIC-FIBROSIS

Concurrent pulmonary inflammation and neutrophil infiltration are char acteristic of children with cystic fibrosis (CF). The production of th e major neutrophil chemotactic cytokine IL-8 by alveolar macrophages o r other cells could be of great importance in the pathology of acute l ung disease, but its role in the persistent lung inflammation characte ristic of CF has not been evaluated. In this study, we have measured, by ELISA, the concentration of IL-8 in sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage, and sera specimens obtained from children with CF. For comparison, IL -8 in bronchoalveolar lavage obtained from asthmatic patients and from non-CF children with or without lung infection and in sera from age-m atched controls was measured. High levels of IL-8 were measured in spu tum (mean = 2952 pM) and in bronchoalveolar lavage (mean = 6624 pM) fr om CF patients. In both cases, there was a significant correlation bet ween clinical status (Schwachman score) and IL-8 levels. This was not true for IL-8 levels measured in sera, which nevertheless were signifi cantly higher in CF patients (p = 0.0001) than in normal controls in t he over-10-y age group.