In our initial analyses, we examined twenty-five plasma cytokine levels (IL-1β, IL-1Ra, IL-2, IL-2R, IL-4, -5, -6, -7, -8, -10, -12p40/p70, -13, -15, -17, TNF-α, IFN-α, IFN-γ, GM-CSF, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, IP-10, MIG, Eotaxin-1, RANTES, MCP-1) and found that nineteen of these were elevated in the COPD participants (n = 11) relative to age-matched normal controls (n = 11) (Table 5). This evidence concerns the gene IL2RA and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.