Association of airway inflammation and smoking status with IL-33 level in sputum of patients with asthma or COPD
Authors: Mustafa Abdo, Frauke Pedersen, Anne-Marie Kirsten, Frederik Trinkmann, Espen E. Groth, Thomas Bahmer, Henrik Watz, Klaus F. Rabe
Journal: European Respiratory Journal (2024)

Asthma and COPD are heterogeneous inflammatory airway conditions. Interleukin-33 (IL-33) is an epithelial pleiotropic cytokine that regulates type 1 and type 2 immune responses [1]. Clinical trials showed promising efficacy of monoclonal antibodies targeting IL-33 and its ST2-receptor in asthma and COPD [2–4]. So far, little is known about the characterization of airway inflammation associated with increased IL-33 levels in patients with asthma or COPD. Moreover, previous studies have reported a potential impact of smoking status on IL-33 protein levels [5]. Therefore, we investigated the association of smoking status and airway inflammatory phenotypes with IL-33 levels in patients with asthma or COPD. Such clinical characterization could provide new insights that help selecting patients who might benefit from anti-IL-33 therapy. Footnotes This manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal . It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJ online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article. Conflict of Interest: A. Versi has nothing to disclose. Conflicts of interest: Mustafa Abdo received travel support from Chiesi and consulting fees from AstraZeneca, all outside the submitted work. Conflicts of interest: Frauke Pederson, Anne-Marie Kirsten reports no relevant conflicts of interest. Conflicts of interest: E. Groth reports grants from German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, manuscript writing or educational events from Dustri Verlag Germany, Astra Zeneca, Germany, Health Course Inc., USA, Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany, Sanofi Genzyme, Germany and Insmed GmbH, Germany, support for attending meetings from Glaxo Smith Kline, Germany and Insmed, Germany. Conflicts of interest: Henrik Watz reports an unrestricted research grant from Chiesi, Bayer AG supported the COPD cohort, consultancy fees from AZ, BI, Chiesi, GSK, Novartis and Sanofi, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, manuscript writing or educational events from AZ, BI, Chiesi, GSK, Novartis and Sanofi, support for attending meetings from AZ, BI, Chiesi, GSK, Novartis and Sanofi, and participation on a data safety monitoring board or advisory board with AZ, BI, Chiesi, GSK, Novartis and Sanofi. Conflicts of interest: Frederik Trinkmann reports grants from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Novartis, Roche, BMBF, DZL, Markedsmodningsfonden and E+H Knorr Stiftung, consultancy fees from AstraZeneca, Berlin Chemie, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chiesi, Fisher & Paykel, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen-Cilag, Merck Healthcare, Novartis, Omron, OM-Pharma, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis and Thorasys, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, manuscript writing or educational events from AstraZeneca, Berlin Chemie, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chiesi, Fisher & Paykel, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen-Cilag, Merck Healthcare, Novartis, Omron, OM-Pharma, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis and Thorasys, support for attending meetings from AstraZeneca, Actelion, Bayer, Berlin Chemie, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Mundipharma, Novartis, Pfizer and TEVA. Conflicts of interest: Thomas Bahmer reports grants from BMBF: Unrestricted research grant for the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), during the conduct of the study; consultancy fees from AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, manuscript writing or educational events from AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Roche, Chiesi, Boeringer-Ingelheim, Merck and Pfizer, support for attending meetings from Chiesi and AstraZeneca, participation on a data safety monitoring board or advisory board with CoVit-2 ([NCT04751604][1]). Conflicts of interest: Klaus F. Rabe reports grants from Boehringer Ingelheim and Astra Zeneca, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, manuscript writing or educational events from Astra Zeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Sanofi & Regeneron, GlaxoSmithKline, Berlin Chemie and Roche Pharma, participation on a data safety monitoring board or advisory board with AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi & Regeneron and CSL Behring, leadership roles with German Center for Lung Research (DZL), German Chest Society (DGP) and American Thoracic Society (ATS). [1]: /lookup/external-ref?link_type=CLINTRIALGOV&access_num=NCT04751604&atom=%2Ferj%2Fearly%2F2024%2F08%2F08%2F13993003.00347-2024.atom