IL6 and Hypertension: The chronic increase in the concentrations of cortisol is found to be markedly associated with hypertension and cerebral atrophy.3,4 Fewer studies have shown that chronic stress also has an impact on the levels of cytokines, including Interleukin-6 (IL-6) that represent the extent of neuroinflammation, which is a pathological hallmark of AD.5 IL-6 is a multifunctional cytokine from the neuropoietin family of cytokines.