A case-control study of 680 patients with minor stroke or TIA, with systematic exclusion of patients with confounding infection or pro-inflammatory diseases, found that higher baseline levels of IL-6, IL-8 and high sensitivity (hs) CRP independently predicted one-year recurrent vascular events (Coveney et al., 2021). The gene discussed is CXCL8; the disease is transient ischemic attack.