Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) are mainly produced by immune cells that are involved in the host response to M. tuberculosis and are overexpressed at sites involved in pulmonary tuberculosis, where they finally recruit macrophages and lymphocytes that seal up infectious foci by forming granulomas7,8. This evidence concerns the gene TNF and pulmonary tuberculosis.