Key Points: In people with cystic fibrosis, defective CFTR function alters neutrophil cytosolic ion homeostasis leading to impaired degranulation. By normalizing CFTR function, ivacaftor treatment corrects neutrophil degranulation resulting in normalized killing of bacteria.

Acute phase proteins (APPs) are a group of circulating plasma proteins which undergo changes quantitatively or qualitatively at the time of inflammation. Many of these APPs are glycosylated, and it has been shown that alterations in glycosylation may occur in inflammatory and malignant conditions. Changes in glycosylation have been studied as potential biomarkers in cancer and also in chronic inflammatory conditions and have been shown to correlate with disease severity in certain conditions. Serine protease inhibitors (serpins), many of which are also APPs, are proteins involved in the control of proteases in numerous pathways. Alpha-1 Antitrypsin (AAT) is the most abundant serpin within the circulation and is an APP which has been shown to increase in response to inflammation. The primary role of AAT is maintaining the protease/antiprotease balance in the lung, but it also possesses important anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating properties. Several glycoforms of AAT exist, and they possess differing properties in regard to plasma half-life and stability. Glycosylation may also be important in determining the immune modulatory properties of AAT. The review will focus on the role and importance of glycosylation in acute phase proteins with particular attention to AAT and its use as a biomarker of disease. The review describes the processes involved in glycosylation, how glycosylation changes in differing disease states, and the alterations that occur to glycans of APPs with disease and inflammation. Finally, the review explores the importance of changes in glycosylation of AAT at times of inflammation and in malignant conditions and how this may impact upon the functions of AAT.

Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) is the canonical serine protease inhibitor of neutrophil-derived proteases and can modulate innate immune mechanisms through its anti-inflammatory activities mediated by a broad spectrum of protein, cytokine, and cell surface interactions. AAT contains a reactive methionine residue that is critical for its protease-specific binding capacity, whereby AAT entraps the protease on cleavage of its reactive centre loop, neutralises its activity by key changes in its tertiary structure, and permits removal of the AAT-protease complex from the circulation. Recently, however, the immunomodulatory role of AAT has come increasingly to the fore with several prominent studies focused on lipid or protein-protein interactions that are predominantly mediated through electrostatic, glycan, or hydrophobic potential binding sites. The aim of this review was to investigate the spectrum of AAT molecular interactions, with newer studies supporting a potential therapeutic paradigm for AAT augmentation therapy in disorders in which a chronic immune response is strongly linked.

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is a rare syndrome of alveolar surfactant accumulation, resulting hypoxemic respiratory failure, and increased infection risk. Despite advances in our understanding of disease pathogenesis and the availability of improved diagnostics, the epidemiology and healthcare burden of PAP remain poorly defined. To determine the prevalence, and healthcare utilization and costs associated with PAP, we interrogated a large health insurance claims database containing comprehensive data for approximately 15 million patients in the United States. We also evaluated data from a referral-based diagnostic testing program collected over a 15-year period. The prevalence of PAP was determined to be 6.87 ± 0.33 per million in the general population, similar in males and females, and increased with age, however considering difficulties and delays in diagnosing this is likely a minimum estimate of true prevalence. PAP patients had significantly more comorbidities, health care utilization and associated costs compared to control patients precisely matched for age and gender. Between 2004 and 2018, 249 patients confirmed to have PAP were evaluated to identify the PAP-causing disease; 91.5% had autoimmune PAP, 3% had hereditary PAP caused by GM-CSF receptor mutations, 4% had secondary PAP, and 1.5% had congenital PAP. Considering the high diagnostic accuracy of serum GM-CSF autoantibody testing and predominance of autoimmune PAP, these results emphasize the importance of utilizing blood-based testing in PAP syndrome to identify the PAP-causing disease rather than invasive lung biopsies, resulting in earlier diagnosis, reduced morbidity and lower healthcare costs.