TNF and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Some studies have demonstrated that in addition to inflammation in the lungs, COPD patients experience a significant increase in systemic inflammatory markers (CRP, IL‐6, and TNF‐α; Shaw et al., 2014), which can interact with endothelial cells and deposit locally in AS lesions, inducing the expression of adhesion factors and chemokines in endothelial cells and promoting their dysfunction and the formation of atherosclerotic plaques (Eickhoff et al., 2008).