TNF and ischemic stroke: Meta-analysis results (Figure 4) of 14 studies (671 cases and 534 control subjects) demonstrated that ischemic stroke patients have higher serum TNF-α level than the control subjects (SMD = 2.33, 95% CI 1.85 to 2.81), although significant heterogeneity was present (I2 =0.9, Pheterogeneity < 0.0001).