Further evidence of a type 2 inflammatory signature in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or emphysema

There is increasing recognition of a type 2 (T2) inflammatory pattern in a subset of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or emphysema, characterized by blood and airway eosinophilia. The mechanism underlying this is not well established. The recognition that CD125 (interleukin [IL]-5 receptor alpha) is expressed on some lung neutrophils and eosinophils in patients with asthma led us to speculate that CD125 may also be expressed on lung neutrophils in patients with COPD or emphysema.

To interrogate the expression of CD125 on lung neutrophils (and, when present, eosinophils) in patients with COPD/emphysema and identify a meaningful biomarker to predict neutrophil CD125 expression, including other markers of T2 inflammation.

We obtained blood and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples from patients with physician-diagnosed COPD/emphysema undergoing a clinically indicated bronchoscopy.

We found that a highly variable percentage of BAL neutrophils indeed expressed surface CD125 (0%-78.7%), with obvious clustering of CD125^high and CD125^low patterns. No correlation was found with clinical characteristics, blood or BAL eosinophil or neutrophil counts, BAL cytokines, or BAL eosinophil CD125 expression.

We conclude that, similar to asthma, lung neutrophils from patients with COPD display interleukin-5 receptor alpha (CD125) on their surface. This along with the frequent presence of IL-4 and IL-5 in airway fluid further suggests a possible role of the T2 pathway in contributing to COPD severity.

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03984799.