TNF and infection: Pro-inflammatory activation is the hallmark of infection (Black et al., 1988), in which the release of barrier-affecting cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interferon gamma (IFN-γ), or interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) within the intestinal mucosa seems to play a major role in the perpetuation of the diarrhea (Rees et al., 2008; Amasheh et al., 2010; Luettig et al., 2016).