TNF and Alzheimer disease: Moreover, hsCRP was not only elevated in patients with HIV in this study but was also positively correlated to aortic PWV and negatively correlated to AD at all three levels, and furthermore was strongly correlated with visceral fat, which is thought to play a central role in this inflammatory process, with macrophage release of IL-6 and TNF-α [29] both which are associated with increased PWV.