IL-6 strikes a balance in metabolic inflammation

Abstract

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic cytokine that exerts either proinflammatory or anti-inflammatory effects and is implicated in diverse settings, including obesity, exercise, arthritis, and colitis. A new study shows that modulation of macrophage activation by IL-6 maintains glucose homeostasis in diet-induced obesity while limiting inflammation in endotoxemia (Mauer et al., 2014).