{"type":"root","children":[{"type":"paragraph","children":[{"type":"text","value":"CD163 is a member of the group B scavenger receptor cysteine-rich (SRCR) superfamily. CD163 is the high-affinity scavenger receptor for the hemoglobin-haptoglobin complex, but has low affinity for hemoglobin in the absence of haptoglobin. CD163 is expressed on the cell surface of monocytes and macrophages that evolve predominantly in the late phase of inflammation, and is therefore very useful for macrophage-phenotyping. A soluble form of the receptor sCD163 exists in plasma, and is upregulated in a large range of inflammatory diseases including liver cirrhosis, type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, macrophage activation syndrome, Gaucher’s disease, sepsis, HIV infection, rheumatoid arthritis, and Hodgkin’s lymphoma. CD163 is expressed on histiocytes, gut, Kupffer cells, a few alveolar macrophages, macrophages in red-pulp of spleen, cortical macrophages in thymus, most macrophages in the placenta, and in varying degrees in macrophages in inflamed tissue including tumor tissue, depending on the inflammatory stage."}]}]}