Interestingly, treatment of monocytes with the STAT-inhibitor and COVID-19 drug (28) Ruxolitinib not only reduced the expression of STAT-targets CXCR4 and NAMPT, but also increased the expression of proinflammatory markers CXCL8 and CXCL2 (Fig. 3I and SI Appendix, Fig. S7B). This evidence concerns the gene CXCR4 and COVID-19.