Our results concurred with previous studies showing that the basal production of cytokines (IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10) was significantly increased in immunosuppressive naïve patients (Group 1) and patients with active disease despite immunosuppressive therapy (Group 3) compared with HCs, implying that the imbalance between proinflammatory (IL-6 and IL-8) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10) cytokines may trigger the inflammatory process in SLE. The gene discussed is IL6; the disease is systemic lupus erythematosus.