TNF and infection: B. pseudomallei increased the mRNA expression of TNFAIP3 and IL-6 in human lung epithelial cell, which was consistent with the current research that proinflammatory mediators of TNF-α and IL-6 increased in the liver of mice following infection with B. pseudomallei and in serum samples of melioidosis patients (Ulett et al., 2000; Koosakulnirand et al., 2018).