TNF and diabetes mellitus: Ghrelin also increased Bcl-2, decreased Bax, and suppressed caspase-3 activation in this cell.22 Moreover, it has been revealed that ghrelin (1000 ng/ml) in a dose-dependent manner inhibits TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells.23 Previous studies have shown that ghrelin treatment diminishes diabetes-induced cell death in lactotrophs through caspase-8 inhibition and increasing Bcl-2 levels.24