TNF and cardiomyopathy: The increased mRNA and protein levels of the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) in explanted hearts from dilated cardiomyopathic and ischemic patients and the TNFα-induced apoptosis in rat cardiomyocytes demonstrate the clear involvement of this programmed cell death mechanism in cardiomyopathy (Krown et al., 1996; Torre-Amione et al., 1996).