IL-6 helps weave the inflammatory web during acute coronary syndromes

The cytokine IL-6 has well-known proinflammatory roles in aging and ischemic heart disease. In this issue of the JCI, Alter and colleagues used mouse experiments and human tissue to investigate the source of IL-6 following myocardial infarction. The authors showed that cardiac fibroblasts produced IL-6 after coronary ligation in mice and proposed the existence of a pathway involving adenosine signaling via the adenosine A2b receptor. The findings underscore the complexity of IL-6 biology in ischemic heart disease and identify an adenosine/IL-6 pathway that warrants consideration for targeting as a modulator of cardiovascular risk.