In addition to their role as antigen producing cells, B-cells have been shown to contribute to the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease via the production of a pro-inflammatory factors such as IL-6, the activation of pro-inflammatory Th1 and Th17 cells and monocytes, and the inhibition of T-cell activation by regulatory B (B10) cells [15,17,31-34]. This evidence concerns the gene IL6 and autoimmune disease.