HDAC8 has been shown to have increased enzymatic activity and play a pathogenic role in pulmonary asthma; when mice in a model of allergic asthma were exposed to ovalbumin (OVA), the level of HDAC8 protein expression was significantly increased in the lungs, together with high numbers of CD68 and CD163 macrophages. The gene discussed is CD68; the disease is allergic asthma.