In non-infected animals, HF diet was associated with an altered cytotoxic and chemotactic profile with significantly elevated levels of IL-2 (p < 0.05), TNF-α (p < 0.05), LIX (syn. CXCL5, RANTES) (p < 0.05), monocyte chemoattractant proteins MCP-1 (CCL2) (p < 0.05) and MCP-2 (CCL8) (p < 0.05), as well as granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) (p < 0.05), when compared to LF controls (Fig. 3a). Here, CXCL5 is linked to hydrops fetalis.