TNF and chronic kidney disease: Furthermore, studies in CKD and HD patients have shown associations with hepcidin and various other parameters such as residual kidney function (RKF) [6], [11], [16], ESA dose [11] and markers of inflammation including C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) [7], [15].