IL6 and Hypertension: T2DM stage B patients had more obesity and hypertension, and a greater incidence of LV diastolic dysfunction, which has been previously observed in stage A HF patients and is associated with poorer prognosis.27 T2DM patients also had higher circulating levels of IL‐6, TNF‐R1, and sST2, of which IL‐6 and sST2 were found to be predictors of somatic/affective depression, which was also elevated in the T2DM patients.