TNF and Alzheimer disease: In this study, the hippocampal tissues of the AD mice displayed significantly (P < 0.05) elevated protein expression of caspase-1 (1.8-fold) (Figure 5a and b) as well as increased mRNA expressions of TNF-α (6.3-fold) and IL-6 (5.9-fold) (Figure 5c and d) against the sham-operated controls.