The airways of COPD patients are often colonized with bacteria leading to increased airway inflammation. This study sought to determine whether systemic cytokine responses to microbial pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) are increased among subjects with severe COPD.
In an observational cross-sectional study of COPD subjects, PAMP-induced cytokine responses were measured in whole blood ex vivo. We used PAMPs derived from microbial products recognized by TLR 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Patterns of cytokine response to PAMPs were assessed using hierarchical clustering. One-sided t-tests were used to compare PAMP-induced cytokine levels in blood from patients with and without severe COPD, and for subjects with and without chronic bronchitis.
