TNF and rheumatoid arthritis: In particular, when MPs were treated with ETA at 10 μg/ml, both endothelial apoptosis and autophagy reached levels comparable to those of untreated cells (p = 0.01 and p = 0.02, respectively versus cells treated with RA-MPs at T0), to confirm possible involvement of TNFα carried on MPs in the induction of apoptosis and autophagy (Fig. 6g, h).