TNF and viral infectious disease: Based upon our bioinformatics analysis, several inflammation-related genes were upregulated following the viral infection, including the CXCL10, TNF-α, and interleukin 1α, etc. Since the elevated expression of TNF-α has been reported during the initial stages of SARS-CoV-2 infection and may serve as a key component of the cytokine storm in COVID-19 [21,25], we hypothesized that TNF-α may contribute to the aggravation of the COVID-19 manifestations.