Atrial inflammatory reaction related to chronic AF theoretically confers a GERD-initiation mechanism via the adjacent anatomical association between the esophagus and the atria.31 In fact, it is known that inflammatory factors including oxidative stress, leukocytes, and cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 might play an important role in the occurrence of GERD. The gene discussed is CXCL8; the disease is gastroesophageal reflux disease.