IL6 and colitis: After colitis induction, the animals showed loss of weight and food intake, increased colon-weight-to-length ratio, and inflammation characterized by elevation of MPO, pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α), NO, PGE2, iNOS expression, COX-2 expression, and the MLCK, NF-kB and NF-kB-p65 protein expression, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and Akt pathways.