TNF and acute respiratory distress syndrome: Cytokine storm is one of the main mechanisms for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the systemic inflammatory response resulting from the release of large amounts of pro-inflammatory mediators including IFN-α, IL-1b, IL (6 − 12 − 18 and 33), TNF-α, TGFβ, etc. and chemokines by immune effector cells in SARS-CoV infection (Cameron et al.