CCL8 and inflammatory bowel disease: In DSS-treated BALB/c WT and C3ar-/- mice, quantitative real time PCR analysis revealed slight upregulation of mRNA for CCL-8, a chemoattractant for various types of immune cells that is implicated in IBD [21], and unchanged levels of mRNA for MMP-3, a protease in tissue remodelling, including during bowel inflammation [22]; [23] (Fig. 8).