TY - JOUR T1 - CXCR4<sup>+</sup> granulocytes reflect fungal cystic fibrosis lung disease JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 395 LP - 404 DO - 10.1183/09031936.00173514 VL - 46 IS - 2 AU - Melanie Carevic AU - Anurag Singh AU - Nikolaus Rieber AU - Olaf Eickmeier AU - Matthias Griese AU - Andreas Hector AU - Dominik Hartl Y1 - 2015/08/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/46/2/395.abstract N2 - Cystic fibrosis airways are frequently colonised with fungi. However, the interaction of these fungi with immune cells and the clinical relevance in cystic fibrosis lung disease are incompletely understood.We characterised granulocytes in airway fluids and peripheral blood from cystic fibrosis patients with and without fungal colonisation, non-cystic fibrosis disease controls and healthy control subjects cross-sectionally and longitudinally and correlated these findings with lung function parameters.Cystic fibrosis patients with chronic fungal colonisation by Aspergillus fumigatus were characterised by an accumulation of a distinct granulocyte subset, expressing the HIV coreceptor CXCR4. Percentages of airway CXCR4+ granulocytes correlated with lung disease severity in patients with cystic fibrosis.These studies demonstrate that chronic fungal colonisation with A. fumigatus in cystic fibrosis patients is associated with CXCR4+ airway granulocytes, which may serve as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in fungal cystic fibrosis lung disease.CXCR4+ airway granulocytes as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in fungal cystic fibrosis lung disease http://ow.ly/KPdV0 ER -