We have previously reported that peripheral blood neutrophils from patients with chronic periodontitis are both hyperactive and hyperreactive with respect to ROS generation (Matthews et al. 2007a,b) and that potential stimulants of these responses within plasma include GM-CSF, CXCL8 and interferon-α (IFN-α) (Dias et al. 2011). The gene discussed is CSF2; the disease is periodontitis.