TNF and diabetes mellitus: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) as the primary cause of end-stage kidney disease is a common complication of diabetes mellitus.1 In recent years, studies have indicated that the inflammatory pathways have central roles in the developmental and progressive stages of DN.2, 3 Inflammation is involved in the pathogenesis of DN through various pro-inflammatory cytokines, including monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (mcp-1), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in vivo and in vitro.