IL6 and arthritic joint disease: In a rat adjuvant-induced arthritis model, we could show that local cryotherapy (ice (30 min) or cold gas (2 min)) applied twice a day for 14 consecutive days to the arthritic hind paws significantly improved the arthritis score and reduced the IL-6 and IL-17A local and plasmatic levels, both at the gene and protein levels, compared to non-treated controls, with no effect on the TNF-α pathway [11].