Interleukin-6 and megakaryocytopoiesis: an update.

Interleukin-6 is a pleiotropic cytokine which shows a wide variety of biologic functions on various tissues and cells. Indeed. IL-6 acts not only B cells but also on T cells, hepatocytes, hematopoietic progenitor cells, megakaryocytes, etc. In this review, I have attempted to summarize the new data concerning the effect of IL-6 on megakaryocytes and platelets.