Exposure to UPM increased IL-1β mRNA expression in epithelium/moDCs di-cultures (25.9 fold change (13.0–36.2 fold change)) compared to epithelial/moMφs (UPM 24 h) co-cultures (3.5 fold change (0.5–9.5 fold change), p = 0.015) in asthma, and in epithelial/moMφs (9.3 fold change (1.6–29.7 fold change) compared to unstimulated triple co-cultures (− 1.5 fold change (− 28.1 to 2.9 fold change), p = 0.02) in COPD (Fig. 2). This evidence concerns the gene IL1B and asthma.