In a recent human study, treatment with corticosteroids and macrolides reduced the level of inflammatory biomarkers such as IL-6 and IL-8 in bronchoalveolar lavage of patients with non-responding pneumonia[30], also in a recent post-hoc analysis of STEP study the patients who receiving corticosteroids plus macrolides presented lower re-hospitalisation than those received β-lactam monotherapy[31]. The gene discussed is IL6; the disease is pneumonia.