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Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) was originally described as a protein factor capable of killing tumor cells in vitro and causing hemorrhagic necrosis of transplantable tumors in mice. 1, 2 A serum protein named “cachectin” isolated from chronically infected rabbits with Trypanosoma brucei was later found to be identical to TNF. 3 TNF refers to two closely related cytokines: TNF-ɑ and TNF-β (currently lymphotoxin-ɑ, LT-ɑ). Both interact with the same receptors and elicit a variety of responses and have been implicated as pathogenic mediators of human disease. 4, 5 This article focuses on TNF-ɑ, simply referred to as TNF in the text. TNF elicits a wide spectrum of organismal and cellular responses, including fever, shock, tissue injury, tumor necrosis, anorexia, induction of other cytokines and immunoregulatory molecules, cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. 6 The pathogenic role of TNF has been implicated in …