TNF and periodontitis: Studies have shown that the numbers of healthy gingival tissue sections identified positive for RANTES expression.[16, 17] Several reports have suggested a relationship between the progression of chronic periodontitis and the expression of interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α in the gingival tissue.[18, 19] We found a significant increase of RANTES expression and TNF-α expression in inflammation as compared to control tissues.