TNF and ischemia: Cell-adhesion molecules, particularly ICAM-1, are induced during the early stages of ischemia by TNF-α, along with other proinflammatory cytokines[35,36]; subsequently, leukocytes begin to firmly adhere to endothelial cells, from where they can infiltrate into the brain tissue (Smith et al. 1998; Stanimirovic et al. 1997).