IRF8 and systemic lupus erythematosus: The demonstrated role of IRF8 in the ontogeny of the myeloid lineage, its known role in defense against infectious pathogens and the growing body of evidence from GWAS in humans linking IRF8 variants to chronic inflammatory conditions such as multiple sclerosis [36], systemic lupus erythematosus [32] and inflammatory bowel disease [34], [35], [49] prompted us to investigate a possible role for IRF8 in acute pathological inflammatory reactions.