TNF and Insulin resistance: C2-ceramide, a short-chain ceramide analog, mimicked TNF-α to induce insulin resistance, decrease GLUT4 gene expression (Fernandez-Veledo et al., 2006), and completely preclude insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and insulin-induced GLUT4 translocation to plasma membrane (Teruel et al., 2001; Fernandez-Veledo et al., 2006).