CXCL8 and respiratory tract infectious disorder: However, it is not surprising because IL8 is a member of the chemokine family that initiates and amplifies the inflammatory processes that occur in response to a wide variety of infecting pathogen, and it has been shown that SNP rs4073-AT of the IL8 gene is associated with increased IL8 production in whole blood stimulated with lipopolysaccharides [42] and also with severe respiratory infections [43].