For instance, mice with DSS-induced colitis are more anxious and less socially interactive than control mice, and these disturbances occur in parallel with increased circulating IL-6, IL-18, and NPY levels as well as with altered Npy, Bdnf, Cox-2, and Mineralocorticoid receptor gene expression in the brain, which points to an involvement of inflammatory and stress mechanisms in the behavioral perturbations (263). This evidence concerns the gene IL6 and colitis.