Interestingly, the diminished IL-8 responsiveness of COPD alveolar macrophage to NTHi infection has a strong association with the carriage of TLR9 (T1237C) polymorphism instead of TLR2 (Arg753Gln), TLR4 (Thr399Ile; Asp299Gly), and TLR9 (T1486C) (302). This evidence concerns the gene TLR4 and infection.