TNF and Myocardial fibrosis: Previous animal studies by us show that SQG can lower blood pressure and myocardial fibrosis by suppressing inflammatory responses, such as upregulating the expression of PPAR and downregulating the expression of TNF-α, MCP-1, and TGF-β1/Smads, which are signaling molecules involved in myocardial fibrosis pathogenesis in cardiomyocytes [8].