At study entry, RA patients had significantly higher IL-6 (24.9 ± 6.9 pg/ml) and lower TGFβ serum levels (38.3 ± 2.3 pg/ml) than healthy controls (IL-6: 2.2 ± 0.1 pg/ml p = 0.035; TGFβ: 60.8 ± 3.4 pg/ml, p < 0.0001, respectively) while IL-10 serum levels were comparable (Fig. 2A). Here, TGFB1 is linked to rheumatoid arthritis.