Remarkably, anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) antibody treatment was not revealed as a risk factor (aOR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.4–2.2) by Brenner et al.57 and IBD patients receiving TNF antagonists had even lower rates of severe COVID-19 compared to IBD control patients in unadjusted analyses, (1.1% vs 4.8%, p < 0.001),58 suggesting that TNF-alpha might contribute to immune over-activation and cytokine storm in COVID-19 patients.60 Further studies should be conducted to investigate whether TNF-blockade could be used to blunt the clinical course in patients with severe COVID-19.61, 62. Here, TNF is linked to irritable bowel syndrome.