IL6 and rheumatoid arthritis: On the other hand, aging is associated with chronic inflammation as indicated by higher levels of inflammatory markers such as IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), both of which may cause substantial tissue damage and dysfunction [5, 21, 22] and are believed to be key players in the pathogenesis of several diseases including CVD, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer [23, 24].