IL6 and infection: We investigated the release of interleukin 6 (IL-6), a key cytokine in inflammation regulation, and granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), a stimulating factor for neutrophils and macrophages, by infected osteoblasts, once the infection was established and the bacteria were persistent in the in vitro set up, i.e., 72 h after infection.