IL6 and Anxiety: Inflammatory mediators and cytokines, including iNOS, IFNγ, IL-1β, IL-6, TNFα, IL-17A, and IL-22 were measured in the colon, mesenteric lymph nodes, blood, and brain regions that are associated with behavioral responses to stress (i.e., hippocampus and amygdala) in order to determine whether they correlated with stressor-induced increases in colonic inflammation and/or anxiety-like behavior.