As an example, the study conducted by Zhang et al. in 2020 revealed that alveolar epithelial cells in humans with dysfunctional mitochondria show an increased production of some pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6, IL-12, chemokine ligand 8 (CXCL-8), CCL-20, CCL-3, and CCL-4, all of which were found to be increased in COVID-19 [104]. The gene discussed is IL6; the disease is COVID-19.