IL6 and anemia: IL-6 inflammation has two main effects on iron metabolism that can be connected with anemia: (a) the systemic effect caused by the liver’s production of hepcidin that determines compartmentalization of iron in macrophages and stores, impeding iron absorption by the bowel and lowering blood iron levels; (b) the local effect, often resulting from local inflammation, that is mediated by hepcidin production within the inflamed tissues through autocrine and paracrine mechanisms [28,29].