TNF and malaria: Regarding the malaria-driven apoptosis mechanism, it has been proposed to be mediated by pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF [13], functional exhaustion of the MZ due to abnormally high influx of parasitic antigens [12, 13], and the synergy between the accumulation of free haem in plasma during Plasmodium infection and TNF production, that mediates programmed cell death in immune cells [90].