Despite modern antibiotics, CAP remains a common cause of death, and the search for new therapeutic approaches has been redirected into non-antibiotic therapies [57] . SP-A levels are reduced in several pulmonary diseases [58] [59] [60] . SP-D may also be reduced in some patients with ARDS [59] . In Sftpa -/and Sftpd -/mice, intratracheally administered SP-A or SP-D can restore microbial clearance and inflammation [8, 35] . Exogenous surfactant preparation containing the hydrophobic SP-B and -C are nowadays widely used for replacement therapies in infantile RDS. In addition, intratracheal instillation of recombinant SP-C reduced mortality in patients with severe ARDS due to pneumonia or aspiration [61] . Some of the genetic variants analyzed in our survey, such as 1A 10 , although rare, may have a high impact on susceptibility, severity and outcome of CAP. Validation of our results in other populations, and a better knowledge of the functional and clinical significance of the genetic variability at SFTPA1, SFTPA2 and SFTPD could be relevant for future investigations in the use of these collectins in the treatment of respiratory infectious diseases.