Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), a pleiotropic cytokine produced by activating monocytes/macrophages in the inflammatory process, is considered an important biomarker of autoimmune diseases (Arya et al., 2007; Ali et al., 2011; Altintas et al., 2014; Kalliolias and Ivashkiv, 2016). Here, TNF is linked to autoimmune disease.