IL-6, sIL-6R, and sgp130 in the blood of DKD patients and membrane-bound IL-6 receptor (mIL-6R), sIL-6R, and gp130 in the renal cortex of diabetic C57BL/6 mice were upregulated, whereas the IL-6 signaling contributed to HG-induced podocytes injury through STAT3 phosphorylation (Lei et al., 2018). Here, STAT3 is linked to diabetic kidney disease.