For all three CEP-33779 doses, reductions in local paw pSTAT3 expression directly corresponded to decreases in several serum and paw cytokines involved in the disease progression of arthritis (Figure 4C, IL-12, IL-2, IL-10, and TNFα; P < 0.05) (Additional file 2, Figure S2A; IL-4, P < 0.001) and spleen IL-12 (Additional file 2, Figure S2B; P < 0.05). Here, IL2 is linked to arthritic joint disease.