TNF and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: However, studies have shown that neutrophils isolated from lungs or synovial cavities from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), rheumatoid arthritis or sepsis (Speyer et al., 2004; Hartl et al., 2008; Chou et al., 2010; Lebre et al., 2011) display induced expression of CC CRs, and that pro-inflammatory cytokines including IFN-γ, TNF-α, and GM-CSF modulate expression of these CRs.