IL6 and Gastric Metaplasia: Given that IL-1β induces gastric metaplasia [5], [17] and stimulates expression of the proto-oncogene IL-6 in various cell types [22], [23], [24], [25], we hypothesized that IL-1β induces expansion of the SPEM phenotype by stimulating proliferation and IL-6 expression along with phosphorylation of STAT-3 (pSTAT-3).