To evaluate the clinical relevance of alarmins in the transplanted lung, IL‐1α and HMGB1 concentration and the percentage and number of neutrophils were measured in BAL fluid collected longitudinally from n = 25 lung transplant recipients who developed BOS within 3 years of transplant and a nested case‐controlled group of n = 25 patients who remained stable. Here, HMGB1 is linked to Buschke-Ollendorff syndrome.