Inflammation is dedicated to alleviating harmful stimuli. Whereas acute inflammation is advantageous and focused on the injured site, chronic inflammation is an issue because it inflames the whole tissues, recruits immune cells, and becomes harmful
[91]. In CF, the progressive lung destruction is mainly due to inflammation, which starts shortly after birth
[92]. Chronic inflammation is characterized by the secretion of inflammatory mediators and by the infiltration by polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) leading to an altered lung function in CF
[93]. While inflammation can be triggered in the absence of infection, they are both tightly linked. TLRs recognize molecular patterns on pathogens and activate inflammatory cells that produce NF-κB, growth factors, chemokines and the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-8 and TNF-α. IL-8 recruits PMN and TNF-α raises the expression of endothelial cell adhesion molecules in capillaries
[94]. Whereas many inflammatory targets such as MMP-9, ICAM-1, VCAM-1, COX-2 and cPLA2 are implicated in inflammation, its main marker is NF-κB
[95]; its translocation to the nucleus, where it increases the expression of pro-inflammatory genes, occurs when CFTR is altered or inhibited
[96]. IL-8 secretion by the epithelial cells leads to the PMN invasion followed by the secretion of pro-inflammatory mediators such as TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-17, IL-33, GM-CSF, G-CSF and HMGB1
[97]. One of the key cytokines governing inflammation in the CF lung is IL-1β. Together with TNFα, it enhances the PMN secretory responses and the expression of adhesion molecule on endothelial cells, promoting cachexia. Inflammation in CF is deregulated and is unable to complete; indeed, CF airways are deficient in regulatory molecules including IL-10, NO and lipoxin-A4
[97][98][99]. The role of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 is to complete the acute inflammation by decreasing the pro-inflammatory cytokines and by the induction of apoptosis in PMN. Hyper inflammation in CF is due to an altered balance between inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in which miRNAs are suspected to be involved, because miR-199a-3p negatively regulates the NF-κB pathway
[99][100][101], while lipids also play a role. When the cholesterol homeostasis and its mistrafficking are restored, pro-inflammatory signaling is reduced
[102]; indeed, macrophages, lymphocytes and airway smooth muscle cells are also implicated. Broncho alveolar lavage from CF children contains two subtypes of macrophages
[103]: the first one is responsible for clearing the lung of microbes and for producing large amounts of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-8; the second subtype is involved in the tissue repair by the release of IL-4, IL-13 and IL-10. Nevertheless, macrophages in CF lungs fail to eradicate bacteria
[104][105].