IL6 and acute kidney injury: We have previously investigated the involvement of the IL-18Rα-mediated signaling pathways in arthritis and acute kidney injury using Il18rα deficient mouse models and found that inhibition of the IL-18Rα-mediated signaling pathway suppresses the production of IFN-γ and IL-6 in models of collagen-induced arthritis and lipopolysaccharide-induced acute kidney injury (27, 28).