Monocyte activation leads to the secretion of cytokines (interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8), chemokines (C-C motif ligand (CCL)-2, C-X-C motif ligand (CXCL)-10), and pro-fibrotic factors such as tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMP)-1, which are elevated in SSc patients and are involved in the inflammatory and fibrotic processes observed in the pathogenesis of the disease [2,3,5,6,7,8]. The gene discussed is CXCL8; the disease is systemic sclerosis.