“…HNE and other serine proteases are key enzymes involved in inflammation, coagulation, and host defense (Massberg et al, ; Pham, ). On the other hand, HNE also plays a central role in several inflammatory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Lucas, Costa, Guedes, & Moreira, ; Pandey, De, & Mishra, ), cystic fibrosis (Twigg et al, ), rheumatoid arthritis (Hilbert, Schiller, Arnhold, & Arnold, ), cancer (Akizuki et al, ; Lerman et al, ; Lerman & Hammes, ; Vaguliene, Zemaitis, Lavinskiene, Miliauskas, & Sakalauskas, ), and other disorders with an inflammatory component (Bronze‐da‐Rocha & Santos‐Silva, ; Marto et al, ). Because of their potential for proteolytic tissue damage, neutrophil protease activity is regulated by specific endogenous (α‐1 antitrypsin, secretory leucocyte protease inhibitor and elafin) and exogenous inhibitors, thereby preventing several inflammatory diseases with severe impact on organ tissue integrity (von Nussbaum et al, ; von Nussbaum & Li, ).…”