CXCL8 and chronic gastritis: IL-8 is a typical inflammatory cytokine upregulated in H. pylori infection and correlates with the histological severity of damaged gastric mucosa (98, 99).The activation of the CagA-mediated signaling pathway promotes the expression of the inflammatory cytokine IL-8 via the NF-κB pathway, leading to chronic gastritis and peptic ulcers (100) (Figure 1).