TNF and Hypertension: Many of the secreted factors, e.g. monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6 and IL-8 promote severe co-morbidities including type 2 diabetes mellitus, liver steatosis and cardiovascular diseases including hypertension and atherosclerosis3, 4, 5, 6.