IL-6 Receptor

IL6Rgene

IL-6 receptor mediates IL-6 pro-inflammatory and myocardial-injury signaling in atherosclerosis and acute MI.

Pathway placement

Cascade stepPlaque inflammation

Confidencehigh

RationaleIL-6 signaling receptor; drives atherosclerotic inflammation and myocardial injury response.

Also acts inMyocardial injury

Druggability

DruggableYes

Known drugs / candidates5

Small-molecule tractableYes

Antibody tractableYes

EnsemblENSG00000160712

Type I vs Type II discrimination

ScoresShared / rises in both

R — rupture / Type-I

C — confounder / Type-II

A — assay feasibility

E — evidence strength

T1DI (composite)

Specificity differential (R−C)-11

Confounder panel (Type-II drivers)

1sepsis / systemic inflammationmag 3

2anemia / acute blood lossn/a

3hypovolemia / dehydrationn/a

4tachyarrhythmian/a

5hypoxemia / respiratory failuremag 2

6hypertensive emergencyn/a

7high-demand / peri-operative stressmag 2

Coverage: 3/7 confounders with evidence

Tier: deep-scored (abstract-extracted) · 8 supporting references. See the discrimination table for all markers.

Assay & specimen

Validated clinical assay

Specimen

Serum or plasma

Collection tube

Serum separator (gold/red-top, SST) · K2/K3-EDTA (lavender-top)

Method / principle

Sandwich ELISA

Reagent / substrate

Anti-IL6R antibody pair

Platform

ELISA plate

Turnaround · availability

Research · Research

Human genetic evidence

0.503

Open Targets association (myocardial_infarction)

GWAS associations

Traits: myocardial infarction

Literature evidence(5)

A multi-omics approach uncovers causality of IL6R on endotypes of subclinical carotid atherosclerosis and the possible role of the IL6R/OSMR pathway.
Cardiovascular research · 2025 · PMID 41124095 · doi
Proteogenomic Data Integration Reveals CXCL10 as a Potentially Downstream Causal Mediator for IL-6 Signaling on Atherosclerosis.
Circulation · 2023 · PMID 38152968 · doi
Circulating soluble IL-6 receptor associates with plaque inflammation but not with atherosclerosis severity and cardiovascular risk.
Vascular pharmacology · 2023 · PMID 37634789 · doi
The Inflammasome Signaling Pathway Is Actively Regulated and Related to Myocardial Damage in Coronary Thrombi from Patients with STEMI.
Mediators of inflammation · 2021 · PMID 34135690 · doi
Integrative functional genomics identifies regulatory mechanisms at coronary artery disease loci.
Nature communications · 2016 · PMID 27386823 · doi