Interestingly, De Smet et al., through histochemical and transcriptomic analysis of airway in a large cohort of never-smokers and smokers with and without COPD, found that BPIFA1 is elevated in COPD patients and correlates with disease severity and goblet cell hyperplasia (De Smet et al., 2018). This evidence concerns the gene BPIFA1 and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.