IL6 and asthma: Of note, a specific asthma phenotype has been proposed to correspond to IL-6 trans-signaling, as patients with increased IL-6 trans-signaling had more exacerbations, eosinophilia, and submucosal T cells and macrophages [39], and a coding genetic polymorphism in the IL-6R gene that promotes trans-signaling has been linked to lung function differences in people with severe asthma [40].