IL6 and Stroke: Macrophages/microglia are major source of inflammatory mediators (e.g., TGF-β, IL-6, IL-1β, or TNF-α) in stroke to activate the astrocyte TLR/NF-κB inflammatory pathway and further amplify neuroinflammation to exacerbate neuronal damage and stroke symptoms (Leitner et al., 2019).