IL6 and Hypertension: In agreement with our previous observations, our new results also show a promoting effect of hypertension or the T-cell mitogen (Con A) on calcein dye transfer between peripheral blood lymphocytes, and enhanced mRNA expression levels of IL-2 and IL-6 in Con A-stimulated lymphocytes from SHRs. An important implication of our data is that the enhanced GJIC in lymphocytes from SHRs may be involved in the hypertensive inflammatory response.