IL6 and muscular dystrophy: By contrast, under pathologic conditions, including cancer cachexia, muscular dystrophy, and chronic inflammatory diseases, there is a chronic (i.e., long lasting) elevation of the circulating IL-6; although Stat3-SOCS3 signaling is also activated in the target skeletal muscle tissue under these pathologic conditions, the autocrine loop of regulation in the action of the cytokine is totally lost.