Under 5 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 6.1 5 to 9 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 7.0 10 to 14 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 6.3 15 to 19 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 6.1 20 to 24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....

............................................................................... 10 LIST OF PAPERS ......................................................................... 12 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 14 Background and aim ............................................................................ 14 The mucous gel and mucins ..........

Under 5 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 7.9 5 to 9 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 8.1 10 to 14 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 9.9 15 to 19 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 9.1 20 to 24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....

........................................................................................................... 6 ABBREVIATIONS.................................................................................................. 7 ORIGINAL PAPERS .............................................................................................. 9 INTRODUCTION ..................................................

We have previously demonstrated that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients who do not have Siglec-14 are less prone to exacerbation of the disease. Siglec-14 is a myeloid cell protein that recognizes bacteria and triggers inflammatory responses. Therefore, soluble mediators secreted by myeloid cells responding to Siglec-14 engagement could be involved in the pathogenesis of exac...

..................................................................................................... 3 List of publications .................................................................................... 4 List of abbreviations .................................................................................. 6 Introduction ....................................................................

................................................................................................. 6 ORIGINAL PAPERS .................................................................................... 8 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 9 Work-related exposure.......................................................................