TNF and asthma: On the other hand, stearic acid and linoleic acid have been shown to positively correlate with TNF-α and this may be relevant since this is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that can also have increased expression not only in COPD but also in some asthmatic patients, namely in severe asthma, including refractory asthma [101] and neutrophilic severe asthma (which may be refractory or not), where, in fact, this cytokine may contribute to the neutrophilic infiltrate in the airways [129].