September et al. [38] did not show a direct association between rs16944 and the risk of Achilles tendinopathy, but this polymorphism was important for the risk of tendinopathy in the T-T-C-G-A2 and C-T-C-G-AX allele combinations of COL5A1 BstUI RFLP − IL1B rs1143627– IL1B, rs16944– IL6, and rs1800795 − IL1RN VNTR. Here, IL6 is linked to disease of the tendon.