Evidence that GM-CSF is pro-inflammatory in several autoimmune diseases comes from various studies: (1) treatment with human GM-CSF to correct neutropenia results in flare-ups of rheumatoid arthritis (56, 57); (2) human GM-CSF was present in lesions of rheumatoid arthritis (41); and the cerebrospinal fluid of MS patients (58); (3) GM-CSF deficiency confers resistance to experimental collagen induced arthritis (59) and EAE (60) in mouse models. This evidence concerns the gene CSF2 and neutropenia.