TNF and kidney failure: To start testing the inflammatory status of patients with kidney failure, we measured inflammatory cytokines: soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40-L), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, IL-17A, macrophage inflammatory protein 1-beta (MIP-1β), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), tissue necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and tissue necrosis factor-beta (TNF-β) in three study cohorts.