Our results are in line with the previous observations showing that upregulation of NOX4 is linked to several pathogenic conditions, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (Amara et al, 2010), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Hollins et al, 2016) several cardiovascular conditions (Chen et al, 2012) and osteoporosis (Goettsch et al, 2013). The gene discussed is NOX4; the disease is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.