Our findings are consistent with results showing that a shift to the Th1 direction occurred in the Th1/Th2 cell ratio in patients with RA during either TNF blocker or glucocorticoid treatment [47], and that the expression of IFN-γ compared to that of IL-4 in peripheral blood mononuclear culture increased under treatment with the TNF antibody infliximab [48]. Here, TNF is linked to rheumatoid arthritis.