TNF and type 2 diabetes mellitus: The number of acellular capillaries and ghost pericytes are increased in the retina of STZ-T1D and Zucker-T2D rats along with elevated activities of caspase-3, and inhibition of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), a pro-inflammatory cytokine that can trigger necrosis or apoptosis, alleviates those pathological changes [57].