IL2 and coccidiosis: Lai et al. (2018) found that increasing dietary sulfur amino acid levels could stimulate the mRNA expressions of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interleukin-2 (IL-2), and gamma interferon (IFN-γ) in cecum tonsil of coccidiosis-infected broilers. Hence, it is hypothesized that sulfur amino acid requirements are increased for birds infected with Eimeria spp.