IL6 and irritable bowel syndrome: In this line, a recently published study proposed significantly higher serum levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IFN-γ, and TNF-α in patients with IBS who colonized with Blastocystis sp., proposing the critical effects of Blastocystis sp., in IBS development (48) via modulation of IBS-related cytokines (49).