TNF and asthma: Inflammation of the airway is a key characteristic of asthma, the release of mediators from the inflammatory cells including eosinophils, lymphocytes, mast cells, and neutrophils (Amin, 2016; Januskevicius et al., 2016; Su et al., 2018), as well as inflammatory cytokines, such as interferon (IFN)-γ, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α (Yokoyama et al., 1995; Wei-xu et al., 2014; Huang et al., 2016; Diao et al., 2017), has been proposed to contribute directly or indirectly to changes in airway structure and function.