IL6 and Hypertension: Although the adjustment of lipid levels reference values might in part accomplish forementioned goal, probably hypertension and other factors such as ox-LDL, hs-CRP and IL-6 (which are not accounted for in the metabolic syndrome) may cause the higher incidence of diabetes and CVD among blacks.[31],[32] Therefore, in case of African-American children, the use of stricter cut-off values for lipid levels will probably not induce identification of those most at risk for CVD.