IL6 and diabetes mellitus: It has previously been established that proinflammatory cytokines, including interferon-γ (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and interleukin-6 (IL-6), are upregulated in the diabetic retina as a consequence of chronic hyperglycemia (King, 2008; Zhou et al., 2012; Nahomi et al., 2014; Gui et al., 2020).