MAL and infection: In Figure 6A, 42.74 ± 2.45 pg/ml of IL-6 were detectable in HCE cells with mock infection and scramble siRNA transfection, HSV-2 infection resulted in a dramatic increase (178.2 ± 0.52 pg/ml) of IL-6 (p<0.001), while knockdown of either MyD88, or Mal alone or both significantly decreased expression of IL-6 at about 34–43% (p<0.01).