IL6 and systemic sclerosis: In FACS analysis, the number of CD45Ro cells that co-expressed IL-17 was significantly increased in all SSc patients investigated (p = 0.0001), especially in early dcSSc compared with HC.Analyzing the serum cytokines, the levels of IL-6 (p = 0.0001), IL-1α (p = 0.002), and IL-23 (p = 0.003) were significantly higher in SSc as a whole compared with controls, although circulating IL-17 was not detectable.