TNF and periodontitis: Since chronic periodontitis was shown to be associated with an altered balance between anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory cytokines, we tested the ability of OBMCs-derived supernatants from periodontitis patients and healthy individuals to modulate IFN-γ, IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1β secretions in untreated and IL-2-treated allogeneic PBMCs isolated from healthy individuals.