Further, KEGG pathway analysis of the upregulated genes in ICI-2 indicated a predominant enrichment in pathways associated with infection, including ‘Human papillomavirus infection’, ‘Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction’, ‘IL-17 signaling pathway’, ‘Inflammatory mediator regulation of TRP channels’, and ‘Bacterial invasion of epithelial cells’ (Fig. 2D). Here, IL17A is linked to infection.