ReviewCytokine2015
The varying faces of IL-6: From cardiac protection to cardiac failure.
Review in Cytokine, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 193 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
193 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 329 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sleep Deprivation, Cytokine Dysregulation, and the Risk of Cardiac Arrhythmia in Dogs.Veterinary medicine and science · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of moxibustion therapies on immune function in cancer animal models: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Pooled it
- Biomarkers associated with lower limb muscle function in individuals with sarcopenia: a systematic review.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2022Pooled it
- Exercise-induced changes in left ventricular strain are affected by interleukin-6 activity: An exploratory analysis of a randomised-controlled trial in humans with abdominal obesity.Experimental physiology · 2024Trial
- Spices in a High-Saturated-Fat, High-Carbohydrate Meal Reduce Postprandial Proinflammatory Cytokine Secretion in Men with Overweight or Obesity: A 3-Period, Crossover, Randomized Controlled Trial.The Journal of nutrition · 2020Trial
- Plasma interleukin 6 levels are associated with cardiac function after ST-elevation myocardial infarction.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2019Trial
- Inflammatory Biomarkers Interleukin-6 and C-Reactive Protein and Outcomes in Stable Coronary Heart Disease: Experiences From the STABILITY (Stabilization of Atherosclerotic Plaque by Initiation of Darapladib Therapy) Trial.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2017 · on this mapTrial
- Accurate pathologic classification of aggressive myocarditis improves insights into patient precise medicine.Fundamental research · 2026Article
- Cardiotoxicity of T cell immunotherapies.Nature reviews. Cardiology · 2026Review
- Cardiotoxicity of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors and Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2026Review
- Article
- Serum vs. tissue cytokine dysregulation in SLE-associated myocarditis: a hypothesis from an African cohort perspective.Molecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Article
- Predictive accuracy of serum IL-6, IL-17 and sST2 levels for diuretic resistance in patients with chronic heart failure.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2026Article
- An IL6 variant -174 G-C alters cardiac hypertrophy but not cardiometabolic responses to HFD in mice.npj metabolic health and disease · 2026Article
- Inflammatory Biomarkers and Clinical Outcomes in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 and Pre-Existing Heart Failure: A Single-Center Cohort Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Evaluation of the relationship between inflammation and typical chest pain in ST-elevation myocardial infarction.Clinical proteomics · 2026Article
- Epicardial cell activation as a paradigm shift in cardiac repair and regeneration.Stem cells translational medicine · 2026Review
- From IL-6 production to IL-6R buffering: a unified IL-6-IL-6R framework for immune homeostasis during viral infection.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Nanoparticle-based approaches for vascular inflammation in managing hypertension: advancing molecular mechanisms and treatment strategies.Drug delivery and translational research · 2026Review
- 4,4'-DMARFrontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Article
133 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
IL6 is a pleiotropic cytokine that is made in response to perturbations in homeostasis. IL6 becomes elevated in the acute response to host injury and can activate immune cells, direct immune cell trafficking, signal protective responses in local tissue, initial the acute phase response or initiate wound healing. In the short term this proinflammatory response is protective and limits host damage. It is when this acute response remains chronically activated that IL6 becomes pathogenic to the host. Chronically elevated IL6 levels lead to chronic inflammation and fibrotic disorders. The heart is a tissue where this temporal regulation of IL6 is very apparent. Studies from myocardial infarction show how short-term IL6 signaling can protect and preserve the heart tissue in response to acute damage, where long term IL6 signaling or an over-production of IL6R protein plays a causal role in cardiovascular disease. Thus, IL6 can be both protective and pathogenic, depending on the kinetics of the host response.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.