IL6 and Sepsis: The recovery of acetate-treated wild-type animals was reflected by significantly lower concentrations of the cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α, two major mediators of sepsis-associated exuberant inflammation7, which were at high levels in the mock-treated wild-type animals (IL-6, 194,6 ± 29 μ/ml; TNF-α, 76 ± 10 μg/ml) (Fig. 6b, Supplementary Fig. 5c).