Cytokine quantification
Plasma and BAL samples were analyzed using a human magnetic cytokine panel providing parallel measurement of 35 cytokines and chemokines (Thermo Fisher Scientific). The assay was performed according to the manufacturer’s instructions with the following modification: the samples were fixed with 100 µL of 1% paraformaldehyde at room temperature for 60 min on a shaker at 700 RPM and washed once before the final resuspension. All samples were run in duplicate. The samples were analyzed on a Luminex FLEXMAP 3D instrument.