In vivo, lung tissues from mice exposed to whole-body cigarette smoke (CS) for 12 weeks, as well as clinical samples from healthy non-smokers, a healthy smoker, and COPD patients, were analyzed.<h4>Results</h4>Our findings demonstrated that thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) participates in CS-induced NF-κB activation in macrophages, which may contribute to pulmonary inflammation. The gene discussed is TXNIP; the disease is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.