IL6R and asthma: In 2011, we reported the association between a variant in the IL6R gene (rs4129267) and asthma risk.26 A consistent association with this variant was later reported also for eczema91, 92 and asthma severity.93 We and others noted that the disease protective allele (rs4129267:C) was strongly associated with decreased protein levels of the soluble form of the receptor (sIL-6R),94 but increased mRNA levels of the full length IL6R transcript,95, 96, 97 which encodes for the membrane bound form of the receptor (mIL-6R).