Cotton rats infected with influenza and treated with PGZ also showed a significant reduction in the expression of proinflammatory M1 genes including IL-1β, RANTES, and Gro/IL-8 mRNA (Figure 3D), which was accompanied by a dramatic reduction of perivasculitis, interstitial pneumonia, and alveolitis (Figures 3C, E), and overall amelioration of the consolidated influenza-induced pneumonia. This evidence concerns the gene CXCL8 and influenza.