CXCL8 and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: It is demonstrated that human serine proteinases including thrombin, tryptase, elastase and trypsin are potent stimuli of IL-8 secretion from A549 cells, which suggests that they are likely to play a role in IL-8 related airway inflammatory disorders such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cystic fibrosis.