The secreted protein levels of IL-6 from the normal and SSc fibroblasts were increased by NE treatment in a time-dependent manner (Fig. 1D), and the IL-6 secreted protein levels from the SSc fibroblasts treated with 10 μM of NE for six hours were significantly higher than those in the normal fibroblasts (Fig. 1D). Here, IL6 is linked to systemic sclerosis.