IL6 and atherosclerosis: Increased production of cytokines, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-8, is regarded as diagnostic markers in inflammatory diseases including atherosclerosis, obesity, heart diseases, and sepsis (Kessler et al., 1999; Arnson et al., 2013; Cheng et al., 2013; Odegaard et al., 2016).