IL6 and Hyperglycemia: Exposure of HMEC-1 cells to hyperglycemia conditions induces a significant increase in the release of inflammatory cytokines IL-6 (90.2 ± 7.80 pg IL-6/mL) and IL-1β (8.71 ± 1.48 pg IL-1β/mL) in comparison to the normoglycemia conditions (33.9 ± 11.9 pg IL-6/mL and 2.26 ± 0.86 pg IL-1β/mL), as shown in Fig. 4A and B. Treatment of HMEC-1 cells (grown under hyperglycemic conditions) with colonic (poly)phenol metabolite at 0.1, 1 and 5 μM for 6 h led to an overall decrease in the release of IL-6 cytokines (up to 40%) to the cell culture medium (Fig. 4A) suggesting an anti-inflammatory effect.