The notion that diabetes results in lasting effects on the myeloid cell compartment are further highlighted by the fact that if blood monocytes are isolated from T2DM subjects or matched controls, and then differentiated into macrophages for 5 days in vitro, monocyte-derived macrophages from subjects with diabetes express elevated levels of numerous pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL1B, CCL2, and IL6, as compared with monocyte-derived macrophages from controls (72). Here, IL6 is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.