Furthermore, several genes that were annotated in studies on rheumatoid arthritis (VEGFA, TGFB2, MMP1, MMP3, IL8, CCL3L1, CTSL1, CCL2) [34,35] were also significantly upregulated in the immature articular cartilage in our study. This evidence concerns the gene CXCL8 and rheumatoid arthritis.