Inflammatory IL-6, a pleotropic cytokine with both pro- and anti-inflammatory properties depending on the physiological state is highly upregulated in the periphery after colitis and has also been shown to be increased in the brain after DSS- or TNBS-induced colitis, albeit in a temporal manner with increased IL-6 in the cerebral cortex and hypothalamus of rats following colitis induction93,94. The gene discussed is IL6; the disease is colitis.