IL6 and autoimmune disease: Tregs can contribute to the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases by a multi-layered feed-forward loop (Figure 1) (84): Autoantigens and pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6 etc.)activate effector Th cells which further aggravate self-tissue damage by the expression of IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12 and IFNγ (207).