STAT3 and infection: Susceptibility of the patients harboring STAT3 mutation to infections by Staphylococcus aureus or Candida albicans has previously been investigated (7); although antimicrobial activity of the neutrophils from STAT3-deficient patients were comparable to that from healthy individuals, they displayed a lower production of the cytokines IFN-γ and IL-17, defective production of CXCL8 and antimicrobial peptides (BD2 and BD3) by epithelial cells (8, 9).