IL6 and acute respiratory distress syndrome: During cytokine storms, the overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1 (IL-1), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) can result in systemic hyper-inflammatory responses, vascular hyper-permeability, and in rare cases, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multiple organ failure, and death (1, 2).