TNF and autoimmune disease: Neutrophils are early phase effector cells of autoimmune diseases in the central nervous system, which disrupt the function of blood-brain barrier (BBB) and increase its permeability by releasing a large number of pro-inflammatory factors such as interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) (31, 32).