In autoimmune diseases such as SLE, increased expression of chemokine receptors (CXCR2, CXCR3, CCR3 and CCR1) and elevated levels of chemokines such as MCP-1/CCL2, MIP-1/CCL-4, SDF-1/CXCL-12, RANTES/CCL5 and IP-10/CXCL-10 are observed (96). Here, CXCL12 is linked to systemic lupus erythematosus.