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Primary topic: IL6 gene DNA analysis

IL6 Gene and Metabolism: What It Can Mean in a Pathway Report

IL6 becomes more useful when inflammation / immune signaling looks like a meaningful follow-up area instead of just background context.

What is the IL6 gene?

IL6 contributes to immune tone and inflammatory signaling. That makes it more useful as part of a pathway view than as an isolated SNP call.

How IL6 affects metabolism

If IL6-related support is less favorable, the pathway can look more pressured under load and the linked biomarkers become more useful to validate directly.

What happens when IL6 is altered

An altered IL6 pattern does not diagnose anything on its own, but it does change which follow-up markers deserve attention first.

Curated SNP evidence for IL6

These SNPs come from the approved study-level evidence model. Each claim is scored from curated study rows, then gated before it can influence pathway scoring.

Inflammation / immune signaling Iron handling

Evidence-backed report connection

IL6 currently has 2 curated SNPs, 12 claim-level scores, and 0 claims eligible for pathway scoring.

Open the sample report
rs1800795-174G>C6 claims · 18 study rows

expression · CC

IL6 gene expression

Not used for pathway scoring

rs1800795 CC has no scored directional claim for IL6 gene expression.

IL6 rs1800795 is treated as an expression-related promoter variant, but no general higher-or-lower direction is assigned because published results differ by tissue and study context.

Likely effectNo clear expression signal
Signal sizeMinimal signal
Evidence supportVery limited support
Report useEvidence only, not scored
Show study evidence
NCBI RefSNP recordidentity only · unknownNCBI RefSNP identifies rs1800795 as an IL6 promoter-region variant. Because this is a regulatory cytokine variant rather than a coding enzyme change, the relevant effect category is expression.PMC4672776functional assay · loose proxyA fibroblast study reported higher IL6 promoter activity and IL-6 production with the rs1800795 CC genotype in fibroblasts, but not in tested non-fibroblast cell types. The same paper notes divergent prior reports, supporting a tissue-dependent interpretation rather than a general directional score.PMC5490531expression eqtl · directIn an obesity-related diet intervention cohort, baseline plasma IL-6 was lower in participants with the CC genotype than in carriers of a G allele, and genotype did not clearly modify the diet response. This conflicts with a simple universal expression direction for rs1800795.

expression · CG

IL6 gene expression

Not used for pathway scoring

rs1800795 CG has no scored directional claim for IL6 gene expression.

IL6 rs1800795 is treated as an expression-related promoter variant, but no general higher-or-lower direction is assigned because published results differ by tissue and study context.

Likely effectNo clear expression signal
Signal sizeMinimal signal
Evidence supportVery limited support
Report useEvidence only, not scored
Show study evidence
NCBI RefSNP recordidentity only · unknownNCBI RefSNP identifies rs1800795 as an IL6 promoter-region variant. Because this is a regulatory cytokine variant rather than a coding enzyme change, the relevant effect category is expression.PMC4672776functional assay · loose proxyA fibroblast study reported higher IL6 promoter activity and IL-6 production with the rs1800795 CC genotype in fibroblasts, but not in tested non-fibroblast cell types. The same paper notes divergent prior reports, supporting a tissue-dependent interpretation rather than a general directional score.PMC5490531expression eqtl · directIn an obesity-related diet intervention cohort, baseline plasma IL-6 was lower in participants with the CC genotype than in carriers of a G allele, and genotype did not clearly modify the diet response. This conflicts with a simple universal expression direction for rs1800795.

expression · CT

IL6 gene expression

Not used for pathway scoring

rs1800795 CT has no scored directional claim for IL6 gene expression.

IL6 rs1800795 is treated as an expression-related promoter variant, but no general higher-or-lower direction is assigned because published results differ by tissue and study context.

Likely effectNo clear expression signal
Signal sizeMinimal signal
Evidence supportVery limited support
Report useEvidence only, not scored
Show study evidence
NCBI RefSNP recordidentity only · unknownNCBI RefSNP identifies rs1800795 as an IL6 promoter-region variant. Because this is a regulatory cytokine variant rather than a coding enzyme change, the relevant effect category is expression.PMC4672776functional assay · loose proxyA fibroblast study reported higher IL6 promoter activity and IL-6 production with the rs1800795 CC genotype in fibroblasts, but not in tested non-fibroblast cell types. The same paper notes divergent prior reports, supporting a tissue-dependent interpretation rather than a general directional score.PMC5490531expression eqtl · directIn an obesity-related diet intervention cohort, baseline plasma IL-6 was lower in participants with the CC genotype than in carriers of a G allele, and genotype did not clearly modify the diet response. This conflicts with a simple universal expression direction for rs1800795.

expression · GG

IL6 gene expression

Not used for pathway scoring

rs1800795 GG has no scored directional claim for IL6 gene expression.

IL6 rs1800795 is treated as an expression-related promoter variant, but no general higher-or-lower direction is assigned because published results differ by tissue and study context.

Likely effectNo clear expression signal
Signal sizeMinimal signal
Evidence supportVery limited support
Report useEvidence only, not scored
Show study evidence
NCBI RefSNP recordidentity only · unknownNCBI RefSNP identifies rs1800795 as an IL6 promoter-region variant. Because this is a regulatory cytokine variant rather than a coding enzyme change, the relevant effect category is expression.PMC4672776functional assay · loose proxyA fibroblast study reported higher IL6 promoter activity and IL-6 production with the rs1800795 CC genotype in fibroblasts, but not in tested non-fibroblast cell types. The same paper notes divergent prior reports, supporting a tissue-dependent interpretation rather than a general directional score.PMC5490531expression eqtl · directIn an obesity-related diet intervention cohort, baseline plasma IL-6 was lower in participants with the CC genotype than in carriers of a G allele, and genotype did not clearly modify the diet response. This conflicts with a simple universal expression direction for rs1800795.

expression · GT

IL6 gene expression

Not used for pathway scoring

rs1800795 GT has no scored directional claim for IL6 gene expression.

IL6 rs1800795 is treated as an expression-related promoter variant, but no general higher-or-lower direction is assigned because published results differ by tissue and study context.

Likely effectNo clear expression signal
Signal sizeMinimal signal
Evidence supportVery limited support
Report useEvidence only, not scored
Show study evidence
NCBI RefSNP recordidentity only · unknownNCBI RefSNP identifies rs1800795 as an IL6 promoter-region variant. Because this is a regulatory cytokine variant rather than a coding enzyme change, the relevant effect category is expression.PMC4672776functional assay · loose proxyA fibroblast study reported higher IL6 promoter activity and IL-6 production with the rs1800795 CC genotype in fibroblasts, but not in tested non-fibroblast cell types. The same paper notes divergent prior reports, supporting a tissue-dependent interpretation rather than a general directional score.PMC5490531expression eqtl · directIn an obesity-related diet intervention cohort, baseline plasma IL-6 was lower in participants with the CC genotype than in carriers of a G allele, and genotype did not clearly modify the diet response. This conflicts with a simple universal expression direction for rs1800795.

expression · TT

IL6 gene expression

Not used for pathway scoring

rs1800795 TT has no scored directional claim for IL6 gene expression.

IL6 rs1800795 is treated as an expression-related promoter variant, but no general higher-or-lower direction is assigned because published results differ by tissue and study context.

Likely effectNo clear expression signal
Signal sizeMinimal signal
Evidence supportVery limited support
Report useEvidence only, not scored
Show study evidence
NCBI RefSNP recordidentity only · unknownNCBI RefSNP identifies rs1800795 as an IL6 promoter-region variant. Because this is a regulatory cytokine variant rather than a coding enzyme change, the relevant effect category is expression.PMC4672776functional assay · loose proxyA fibroblast study reported higher IL6 promoter activity and IL-6 production with the rs1800795 CC genotype in fibroblasts, but not in tested non-fibroblast cell types. The same paper notes divergent prior reports, supporting a tissue-dependent interpretation rather than a general directional score.PMC5490531expression eqtl · directIn an obesity-related diet intervention cohort, baseline plasma IL-6 was lower in participants with the CC genotype than in carriers of a G allele, and genotype did not clearly modify the diet response. This conflicts with a simple universal expression direction for rs1800795.
rs1800796IL6 supporting signal6 claims · 18 study rows

expression · CC

IL6 gene expression

Not used for pathway scoring

rs1800796 CC is associated with increased IL6 gene expression.

IL6 rs1800796 is scored as a modest tendency toward higher IL6 expression for common C-containing genotypes, strongest for CC.

Likely effectHigher gene expression signal
Signal sizeModerate signal
Evidence supportLimited support
Report useEvidence only, not scored
Show study evidence
NCBI RefSNP recordidentity only · unknownNCBI RefSNP identifies rs1800796 as an IL6 promoter-region variant. This supports scoring it as an expression-related cytokine variant rather than an enzyme-activity or transporter-activity variant.PubMed 27221654expression eqtl · directA hepatocyte study reported higher IL-6 staining and mRNA in CC carriers than in CG or GG carriers, and experimental promoter constructs indicated higher IL-6 transcription efficiency for the C-containing promoter in liver parenchymal cells. This supports a modest higher-expression tendency for C-containing common genotypes.PMC5844752review · close proxyA cancer-focused meta-analysis described IL6 promoter polymorphism results, including rs1800796, as conflicting across studies. This supports keeping the certainty moderate and limiting the interpretation to a tendency rather than a clinical prediction.

expression · CG

IL6 gene expression

Not used for pathway scoring

rs1800796 CG is associated with increased IL6 gene expression.

IL6 rs1800796 is scored as a modest tendency toward higher IL6 expression for common C-containing genotypes, strongest for CC.

Likely effectHigher gene expression signal
Signal sizeSmall signal
Evidence supportLimited support
Report useEvidence only, not scored
Show study evidence
NCBI RefSNP recordidentity only · unknownNCBI RefSNP identifies rs1800796 as an IL6 promoter-region variant. This supports scoring it as an expression-related cytokine variant rather than an enzyme-activity or transporter-activity variant.PubMed 27221654expression eqtl · directA hepatocyte study reported higher IL-6 staining and mRNA in CC carriers than in CG or GG carriers, and experimental promoter constructs indicated higher IL-6 transcription efficiency for the C-containing promoter in liver parenchymal cells. This supports a modest higher-expression tendency for C-containing common genotypes.PMC5844752review · close proxyA cancer-focused meta-analysis described IL6 promoter polymorphism results, including rs1800796, as conflicting across studies. This supports keeping the certainty moderate and limiting the interpretation to a tendency rather than a clinical prediction.

expression · AA

IL6 gene expression

Not used for pathway scoring

rs1800796 AA has no scored directional claim for IL6 gene expression.

IL6 rs1800796 is scored as a modest tendency toward higher IL6 expression for common C-containing genotypes, strongest for CC.

Likely effectNo clear expression signal
Signal sizeMinimal signal
Evidence supportVery limited support
Report useEvidence only, not scored
Show study evidence
NCBI RefSNP recordidentity only · unknownNCBI RefSNP identifies rs1800796 as an IL6 promoter-region variant. This supports scoring it as an expression-related cytokine variant rather than an enzyme-activity or transporter-activity variant.PubMed 27221654expression eqtl · directA hepatocyte study reported higher IL-6 staining and mRNA in CC carriers than in CG or GG carriers, and experimental promoter constructs indicated higher IL-6 transcription efficiency for the C-containing promoter in liver parenchymal cells. This supports a modest higher-expression tendency for C-containing common genotypes.PMC5844752review · close proxyA cancer-focused meta-analysis described IL6 promoter polymorphism results, including rs1800796, as conflicting across studies. This supports keeping the certainty moderate and limiting the interpretation to a tendency rather than a clinical prediction.

expression · AC

IL6 gene expression

Not used for pathway scoring

rs1800796 AC has no scored directional claim for IL6 gene expression.

IL6 rs1800796 is scored as a modest tendency toward higher IL6 expression for common C-containing genotypes, strongest for CC.

Likely effectNo clear expression signal
Signal sizeMinimal signal
Evidence supportVery limited support
Report useEvidence only, not scored
Show study evidence
NCBI RefSNP recordidentity only · unknownNCBI RefSNP identifies rs1800796 as an IL6 promoter-region variant. This supports scoring it as an expression-related cytokine variant rather than an enzyme-activity or transporter-activity variant.PubMed 27221654expression eqtl · directA hepatocyte study reported higher IL-6 staining and mRNA in CC carriers than in CG or GG carriers, and experimental promoter constructs indicated higher IL-6 transcription efficiency for the C-containing promoter in liver parenchymal cells. This supports a modest higher-expression tendency for C-containing common genotypes.PMC5844752review · close proxyA cancer-focused meta-analysis described IL6 promoter polymorphism results, including rs1800796, as conflicting across studies. This supports keeping the certainty moderate and limiting the interpretation to a tendency rather than a clinical prediction.

expression · AG

IL6 gene expression

Not used for pathway scoring

rs1800796 AG has no scored directional claim for IL6 gene expression.

IL6 rs1800796 is scored as a modest tendency toward higher IL6 expression for common C-containing genotypes, strongest for CC.

Likely effectNo clear expression signal
Signal sizeMinimal signal
Evidence supportVery limited support
Report useEvidence only, not scored
Show study evidence
NCBI RefSNP recordidentity only · unknownNCBI RefSNP identifies rs1800796 as an IL6 promoter-region variant. This supports scoring it as an expression-related cytokine variant rather than an enzyme-activity or transporter-activity variant.PubMed 27221654expression eqtl · directA hepatocyte study reported higher IL-6 staining and mRNA in CC carriers than in CG or GG carriers, and experimental promoter constructs indicated higher IL-6 transcription efficiency for the C-containing promoter in liver parenchymal cells. This supports a modest higher-expression tendency for C-containing common genotypes.PMC5844752review · close proxyA cancer-focused meta-analysis described IL6 promoter polymorphism results, including rs1800796, as conflicting across studies. This supports keeping the certainty moderate and limiting the interpretation to a tendency rather than a clinical prediction.

expression · GG

IL6 gene expression

Not used for pathway scoring

rs1800796 GG has no scored directional claim for IL6 gene expression.

IL6 rs1800796 is scored as a modest tendency toward higher IL6 expression for common C-containing genotypes, strongest for CC.

Likely effectNo clear expression signal
Signal sizeMinimal signal
Evidence supportVery limited support
Report useEvidence only, not scored
Show study evidence
NCBI RefSNP recordidentity only · unknownNCBI RefSNP identifies rs1800796 as an IL6 promoter-region variant. This supports scoring it as an expression-related cytokine variant rather than an enzyme-activity or transporter-activity variant.PubMed 27221654expression eqtl · directA hepatocyte study reported higher IL-6 staining and mRNA in CC carriers than in CG or GG carriers, and experimental promoter constructs indicated higher IL-6 transcription efficiency for the C-containing promoter in liver parenchymal cells. This supports a modest higher-expression tendency for C-containing common genotypes.PMC5844752review · close proxyA cancer-focused meta-analysis described IL6 promoter polymorphism results, including rs1800796, as conflicting across studies. This supports keeping the certainty moderate and limiting the interpretation to a tendency rather than a clinical prediction.

Common symptoms people report

  • inflammation / immune signaling can overlap with more persistent symptom patterns
  • marker-driven follow-up may matter more than generic advice
  • mixed responses can make the pathway easier to miss without structured review

Biomarkers to validate

hsCRP

Primary follow-up marker for IL6 inside inflammation / immune signaling.

Related pathway markers

Useful when the pathway needs to be validated as a system rather than as one variant.

Where DNA analysis helps

DNA helps decide whether IL6 should move inflammation / immune signaling higher on the follow-up list before broad interventions are assumed.

Example interpretation

IL6 can strengthen the case for inflammation / immune signaling follow-up when the rest of the pathway points in a similar direction.

Suggested validation: hsCRP.

What to do next

  • Use hsCRP and pathway context before assuming the gene matters in practice.
  • Read IL6 alongside the related genes in the same pathway instead of as a standalone result.

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