IL6 and major depressive disorder: For example, in a recent study of 99 spousally bereaved individuals by Fagundes et al. (99), bereaved individuals with greater grief severity and higher levels of depression showed higher levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interferon gamma (INF-γ), IL-6, and TNF-α approximately 3 months after the death of their spouse as compared to those who had more mild emotional reactions to the loss.