The possible mechanism of the protective effect of IL-10 on cerebral ischemia is its inhibition of cytokines and chemokines production at the transcriptional level (Garcia et al., 2017), and its upregulation of the expression of cytokine antagonists such as IL-1RA and soluble p55 and p75 TNFR genes in vivo, thereby antagonizing the pro-inflammatory effects of IL-1 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is brain ischemia.