Several lines of evidence support a link between IL-17 and apoptosis, for example, in the modulation of Fas-Fas ligand induced apoptosis in the context of a viral infection (13), of fibroblast-like synoviocytes apoptosis, through the activation of STAT-3 (15), and in inhibition of p53 transcription in a lymphoma cell line (27). This evidence concerns the gene STAT3 and viral infectious disease.