IL6 and chronic kidney disease: With this background in mind we designed a longitudinal study aimed to investigate the association of inflammation markers C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) and endothelial dysfunction markers intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) with LVM indexed for height2·71 (LVMI) in predialysis CKD patients with hypertension or using antihypertensive medication.