However, the cytokine drop was almost exclusively significant in the hrHPV-cleared group, whereas no statistical significance (or no difference at all) could be detected between the basal and the follow-up levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the group of patients still showing persistence of hrHPV infection, with the exception of the IL-6 values, which were weakly significantly different in the hrHPV-persistent group compared to the original basal levels (p = 0.049) (Figure 10B). Here, IL6 is linked to infection.