CD163 and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Eapen et al. found reduced numbers of CD163+ macrophages in the small airways of COPD patients with global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease (GOLD) stages 1 and 2 severity compared to non-smoking controls, whereas there were increased numbers of CD163+ macrophages in the bronchoalveolar lavage of COPD patients compared to controls [16].