Montgomery ST, et al. - Researchers investigated the role of interleukin (IL)-1 in the pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease by examining the link between IL-1 signalling, neutrophilic inflammation and structural lung changes in children with CF. They could detect IL-1α and IL-1β in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in absence of infection. They found that in the presence of bacterial infection, IL-1α and IL-1β increased. A correlation of IL-1α and IL-1β with IL-8, neutrophils and neutrophil elastase (NE) activity was also observed. Overall, IL-1α was shown to be associated with early structural lung damage in CF. This pathway was suggested to be a novel anti-inflammatory target.