STAT3 and dilated cardiomyopathy: IL-6 is involved in multiple intracellular signaling pathways, particularly the MEK5-ERK5 pathway [29–32], which plays a critical role in the induction of eccentric cardiac hypertrophy that can progress to dilated cardiomyopathy and sudden death [33, 34], and the JAK-STAT3 pathway, which promotes the increase of cell dimensions [35–37].