IL6 and acute kidney injury: To predict the severity of the kidney injury, we determined the mRNA expression levels of two biomarkers of acute kidney injury (AKI): kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM1) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), and several inflammatory cytokines including chemokine (C–C motif) ligand 2 (Ccl2, also known as monocyte chemotactic protein-1: MCP-1), tumor necrosis factor alpha (Tnfα), interleukin-1 (IL1β) and interleukin-6 (IL6) in the kidneys (Additional file 1: Fig. S12a, b).