TNF and brain infarction: In another in vivo study, emodin inhibited cascade inflammatory reaction by increasing the level of growth transforming factor-β (TGF-β) and depressing the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and thus improved the neurological symptom evaluation score, brain water ratio, and cerebral infarction area in model rats [21].