TNF and Obesity: Terakura et al. demonstrated that supplementing the diet with branched-chain amino acids decreases the hepatic triglycerides accumulation and the chronic inflammatory process associated with obesity, most likely by inhibiting interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumour Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) expression.