Calgranulins are a family of powerful chemoattractants, which have been implicated as biomarkers in inflammatory diseases. To determine how different respiratory diseases affect the expression of calgranulins, we measured the expression of S100A8/A9 and S100A12 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients and healthy volunteers by ELISA. Analysis of calgranulin expression revealed a high level of S100A12 in the lavages of patients suffering from ARDS compared to controls (p<0.001). Based on the hypothesis that the increased expression of S100A12 relative to the S100A8/A9 heterodimer was a characteristic of respiratory diseases with neutrophilic inflammation, we measured calgranulin expression in BALF of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Despite similarly elevated levels of S100A8/A9, S100A12 was significantly higher in ARDS compared to CF BALF (p<0.001). The differential expression of calgranulins was unique for inflammatory markers, as an array of cytokines did not differ between CF and ARDS patients. Since ARDS is an acute event and CF a chronic inflammation with acute exacerbations, we compared calgranulin expression in sputum obtained from CF and patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD). Levels of S100A12 and S100A8/9 were elevated in CF sputum compared to COPD sputum, but the ratio of S100A12 to S100A8/A9 was similar in COPD and CF and reflected more closely than seen in healthy controls. The results indicate that the regulation of human calgranulin expression and the ratio of S100A8/A9 to S100A12 may provide important insights in the mechanism of respiratory inflammation.