role of interleukin 6 in the inflammatory response after cataract surgery an experimental and clinical study the mechanism of uveitis following cataract surgery which is mediated in part by the cyclooxygenase pathway is complex the complexity of which is likely to be due to several factors we investigated the possible local involvement of interleukin 6 il6 in this response using a specific bioassay we showed a dramatic increase of il6 levels 4 x 103 times in all of the aqueous humors of 12 patients following cataract surgery the il6 levels in serum samples were below detection limits indicating a local production of this cytokine in addition the injection of highly purified recombinant interleukin 6 in the anterior chamber of the eye in rabbits resulted in an inflammatory response these observations suggest that il6 may play a crucial role in the occurrence of inflammation after cataract surgery and it may lead to new therapeutic approaches to this problem