Two Articles (March 31, pp 1205 and 1214)1, 2 showed that the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs7529229 of the interleukin 6 receptor (IL-6R D358A), which results in higher serum concentrations of the soluble IL-6R (sIL-6R), is connected to a lower risk of coronary heart disease. As an explanation, the accompanying Comment3 states that the point mutation led to increased cleavage of the IL-6R from the cell surface of hepatocytes, monocytes, and macrophages and concomitantly to less interleukin-6-induced signalling by these cells.

We would like to put forward an alternative explanation. Interleukin 6 is pre