The pathway map terms associated with epithelial cells in AR patients were related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma (Fig. 2A) (e.g., intercellular communication, the role of CD8+ Tc1 cells in COPD, the interleukin-induced inflammatory response in asthmatic airway fibroblasts, the Th2 cytokine-induced expression of mucins, NF-κB AP-1 and MAPK-mediated proinflammatory cytokine production by eosinophils and the role of Th17 cells in asthma). This evidence concerns the gene NFKB1 and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.