TNF and arthritic joint disease: Elsewhere, in a studies of the joints of goats with clinical arthritis, TNF-α mRNA was detected in infected synovium as early as six days after infection, mostly in areas infiltrated by mononuclear cells; in addition, the TNF-α mRNA level in the cells of the synovial membranes of goats with clinical arthritis was lower than in those infected intra-carpally 12 days post infection [8].