IL6 and systemic sclerosis: Table 2 presents the results of measurements of Il-6 secretion by cultured monocytes of study participants with SSc in comparison with apparently healthy individuals. It was demonstrated that basal and LPS-stimulated secretion of IL-6 was significantly higher in SSc group in comparison with control group. The correlation analysis demonstrated that increased LPS-stimulated secretion of IL-6 by cultured CD14+ monocytes of study participants with SSc was associated with higher mtDNA copy number in CD14+ monocytes, r = 0.569, p = 0.006*.