In patients with AF, higher levels of inflammatory markers have been found [22,23], including serum C-reactive protein (CRP), heat-shock protein (HSP) β1 (commonly referred to as HSP27), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) [22,23]. Here, CXCL8 is linked to atrial fibrillation.