Using a downstream effector as a challenge instead of an infectious challenge avoids as much as possible that the observed consequences of modulation of the NO-sGC-cGMP pathway would be due to interference with the effects of this pathway on infection control and on the regulation of the generation of an immune and inflammatory response itself, rather than on the effects of NO-sGC-cGMP on the cardiovascular system. This evidence concerns the gene SGCB and infection.