IL-6 consistently outperformed traditional biomarkers in distinguishing bacterial from non-bacterial infections, with AUROC values of 0.91 in children, 0.94 in maternal patients, and 0.86 in neonates.

Treatment Timeline IL-6 inhibitors and other biologics tend to work quicker than conventional DMARDs, says Dr. Terracina. In fact, you may start feeling better within a few weeks.

“IL-6 is potentially a biomarker of diabetic eye disease severity and it’s a novel target for therapy,” said Stephen J. Kim, MD, chief of the Retina Division at Vanderbilt Eye Institute.