IL6 and atherosclerosis: Activated macrophages produce a series of inflammation-related factors such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), TNF-α, interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, MCP-1, matrix metalloprotease-9 (MMP-9), and so on, which initiate inflammation to induce atherosclerosis (Kleemann et al., 2008).