TNF and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: However, it has already been reported that whey protein supplementation reduces pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels in patients with ischemic stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hypertension (Lee et al., 2010; Sugawara et al., 2012; Hashemilar et al., 2020).