-Serum IL-6 showed significantly higher values in the group of patients with acute bacterial gastroenteritis versus the group of those with acute viral gastroenteritis (p <0.001)-Serum Il-8 increased in both bacterial and viral gastroenteritis without presenting important variations in relation to gastroenteritis etiology-Unlike IL-8, IL-6 presented good sensitivity and specificity parameters. The gene discussed is CXCL8; the disease is gastroenteritis.