Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is an interleukin that acts as both a pro-inflammatory cytokine and an anti-inflammatory myokine. In humans, it is encoded by the IL6 gene.
In addition, osteoblasts secrete IL-6 to stimulate osteoclast formation. Smooth muscle cells in the tunica media of many blood vessels also produce IL-6 as a pro-inflammatory cytokine. IL-6's role as an anti-inflammatory myokine is mediated through its inhibitory effects on TNF and IL-1 and its activation of IL-1ra and IL-10.
There is some early evidence that IL-6 can be used as an inflammatory marker for severe COVID-19 infection with poor prognosis, in the context of the wider coronavirus pandemic.
Function
Immune system
IL-6 is secreted by macrophages in response to specific microbial molecules, referred to as pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). These PAMPs bind to an important group of detection molecules of the innate immune system, called pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), including Toll-like receptors (TLRs). These are present on the cell surface and intracellular compartments and induce intracellular signaling cascades that give rise to inflammatory cytokine production. IL-6 is an important mediator of fever and of the acute phase response.
IL-6 is responsible for stimulating acute phase protein synthesis, as well as the production of neutrophils in the bone marrow. It supports the growth of B cells and is antagonistic to regulatory T cells.
Metabolic
It is capable of crossing the blood–brain barrier and initiating synthesis of PGE2 in the hypothalamus, thereby changing the body's temperature setpoint. In muscle and fatty tissue, IL-6 stimulates energy mobilization that leads to increased body temperature. At 4°C, both the oxygen consumption and core temperature were lower in IL-6-/- compared with wild-type mice, suggesting a lower cold-induced thermogenesis in IL-6-/- mice.
In the absence of inflammation 10–35% of circulating IL-6 may come from adipose tissue. IL-6 is produced by adipocytes and is thought to be a reason why obese individuals have higher endogenous levels of CRP. IL-6 may exert a tonic suppression of body fat in mature mice, given that IL-6 gene knockout causes mature onset obesity. Moreover, IL-6 can suppress body fat mass via effects at the level of the CNS. The antiobesity effect of IL-6 in rodents is exerted at the level of the brain, presumably the hypothalamus and the hindbrain. On the other hand, enhanced central IL-6 trans-signaling may improve energy and glucose homeostasis in obesity Trans-signaling implicates that a soluble form of IL-6R (sIL-6R) comprising the extracellular portion of the receptor can bind IL-6 with a similar affinity as the membrane bound IL-6R. The complex of IL-6 and sIL-6R can bind to gp130 on cells, which do not express the IL-6R, and which are unresponsive to IL-6.
Studies in experimental animals indicate that IL-6 in the CNS partly mediates the suppression of food intake and body weight exerted by glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor stimulation.
Outside the CNS, it seems that IL-6 stimulates the production of GLP-1 in the endocrine pancreas and the gut. Amylin is another substance that can reduce body weight, and that may interact with IL-6. Amylin-induced IL-6 production in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) is a possible mechanism by which amylin treatment could interact with VMH leptin signaling to increase its effect on weight loss.
It is assumed that interleukin 6 in the liver activates the homologue of the human longevity gene mINDY expression via binding to its IL-6-receptor, which is associated with activation of the transcription factor STAT3 (which binds to the binding site in the mIndy promoter) and thereby rise of citrate uptake and hepatic lipogenesis.
Central nervous system
Intranasally administered IL-6 has been shown to improve sleep-associated consolidation of emotional memories.
There are indications of interactions between GLP-1 and IL-6 in several parts of the brain. One example is the parabrachial nuclei of the pons, where GLP-1 increases IL-6 levels and where IL-6 exerts a marked anti-obesity effect.
Role as myokine
IL-6 is also considered a myokine, a cytokine produced from muscle, which is elevated in response to muscle contraction. It is significantly elevated with exercise, and precedes the appearance of other cytokines in the circulation. During exercise, it is thought to act in a hormone-like manner to mobilize extracellular substrates and/or augment substrate delivery.
Like in humans, there seems to be an increase in IL-6 expression in working muscle and plasma IL-6 concentration during exercise in rodents. Studies in mice with IL-6 gene knockout indicate that lack of IL-6 in mice affect exercise function.
It has been shown that the reduction of abdominal obesity by exercise in human adults can be reversed by the IL-6 receptor blocking antibody tocilizumab. Together with the findings that IL-6 prevents obesity, stimulates lipolysis and is released from skeletal muscle during exercise, the tocilizumab finding indicates that IL-6 is required for exercise to reduce visceral adipose tissue mass. Bone may be another organ affected by exercise induced IL-6, given that muscle-derived interleukin 6 has been reported to increase exercise capacity by signaling in osteoblasts.
IL-6 has extensive anti-inflammatory functions in its role as a myokine. IL-6 was the first myokine that was found to be secreted into the blood stream in response to muscle contractions. Aerobic exercise provokes a systemic cytokine response, including, for example, IL-6, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), and IL-10. IL-6 was serendipitously discovered as a myokine because of the observation that it increased in an exponential fashion proportional to the length of exercise and the amount of muscle mass engaged in the exercise. It has been consistently demonstrated that the plasma concentration of IL-6 increases during muscular exercise. This increase is followed by the appearance of IL-1ra and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. In general, the cytokine response to exercise and sepsis differs with regard to TNF-α. Thus, the cytokine response to exercise is not preceded by an increase in plasma-TNF-α. Following exercise, the basal plasma IL-6 concentration may increase up to 100-fold, but less dramatic increases are more frequent. The exercise-induced increase of plasma IL-6 occurs in an exponential manner and the peak IL-6 level is reached at the end of the exercise or shortly thereafter. It is the combination of mode, intensity, and duration of the exercise that determines the magnitude of the exercise-induced increase of plasma IL-6.
IL-6 had previously been classified as a proinflammatory cytokine. Therefore, it was first thought that the exercise-induced IL-6 response was related to muscle damage. However, it has become evident that eccentric exercise is not associated with a larger increase in plasma IL-6 than exercise involving concentric "nondamaging" muscle contractions. This finding clearly demonstrates that muscle damage is not required to provoke an increase in plasma IL-6 during exercise. As a matter of fact, eccentric exercise may result in a delayed peak and a much slower decrease of plasma IL-6 during recovery.
Recent work has shown that both upstream and downstream signalling pathways for IL-6 differ markedly between myocytes and macrophages. It appears that unlike IL-6 signalling in macrophages, which is dependent upon activation of the NFκB signalling pathway, intramuscular IL-6 expression is regulated by a network of signalling cascades, including the /NFAT and glycogen/p38 MAPK pathways. Thus, when IL-6 is signalling in monocytes or macrophages, it creates a pro-inflammatory response, whereas IL-6 activation and signalling in muscle is totally independent of a preceding TNF-response or NFκB activation, and is anti-inflammatory.
IL-6, among an increasing number of other recently identified myokines, thus remains an important topic in myokine research. It appears in muscle tissue and in the circulation during exercise at levels up to one hundred times basal rates, as noted, and is seen as having a beneficial impact on health and bodily functioning when elevated in response to physical exercise.
Receptor
IL-6 signals through a cell-surface type I cytokine receptor complex consisting of the ligand-binding IL-6Rα chain (CD126), and the signal-transducing component gp130 (also called CD130). CD130 is the common signal transducer for several cytokines including leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), ciliary neurotropic factor, oncostatin M, IL-11 and cardiotrophin-1, and is almost ubiquitously expressed in most tissues. In contrast, the expression of CD126 is restricted to certain tissues. As IL-6 interacts with its receptor, it triggers the gp130 and IL-6R proteins to form a complex, thus activating the receptor. These complexes bring together the intracellular regions of gp130 to initiate a signal transduction cascade through certain transcription factors, Janus kinases (JAKs) and Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (STATs).
IL-6 is probably the best-studied of the cytokines that use gp130, also known as IL-6 signal transducer (IL6ST), in their signalling complexes. Other cytokines that signal through receptors containing gp130 are Interleukin 11 (IL-11), Interleukin 27 (IL-27), ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1), cardiotrophin-like cytokine (CLC), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), oncostatin M (OSM), Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus interleukin 6-like protein (KSHV-IL6). These cytokines are commonly referred to as the IL-6 like or gp130 utilising cytokines
In addition to the membrane-bound receptor, a soluble form of IL-6R (sIL-6R) has been purified from human serum and urine. Many neuronal cells are unresponsive to stimulation by IL-6 alone, but differentiation and survival of neuronal cells can be mediated through the action of sIL-6R. The sIL-6R/IL-6 complex can stimulate neurites outgrowth and promote survival of neurons and, hence, may be important in nerve regeneration through remyelination.
Interactions
Interleukin-6 has been shown to interact with interleukin-6 receptor, glycoprotein 130, and Galectin-3.
There is considerable functional overlap and interaction between Substance P (SP), the natural ligand for the neurokinin type 1 receptor (NK1R, a mediator of immunomodulatory activity) and IL-6.
Role in disease
IL-6 stimulates the inflammatory and auto-immune processes in many diseases such as multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), diabetes, atherosclerosis, gastric cancer, depression, Alzheimer's disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple myeloma, prostate cancer, Behçet's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and intracerebral hemorrhage.
Hence, there is an interest in developing anti-IL-6 agents as therapy against many of these diseases. The first such is tocilizumab, which has been approved for rheumatoid arthritis, Castleman's disease and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Others are in clinical trials.First IL-6–blocking drug nears approval for rare blood disorder, Nature Medicine, October 7, 2013 It has been observed that genetic inactivation of ZCCHC 6 suppresses IL‐6 expression and reduces the severity of experimental osteoarthritis in Mice. Some plant derived small molecule such as Butein have been reported to inhibit IL-6 expression in IL-1β stimulated human chondrocytes.
Liver diseases