TNF and diabetes mellitus: Consequently, the application of hEC-SOD resulted in the recovery of animals from systemic and renal inflammation and apoptosis, as reflected by decreased monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and tumor necrosis factor-α levels in serum and an increased B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2)/ Bcl-2-associated X-protein (BAX) ratio in diabetic kidneys [27].