TNF and acute respiratory distress syndrome: The qRT-PCR analyses presented that QHSG drastically diminished the mRNA levels of inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1β, IL-18, IL-6, TNF-α and IFN-γ, in the lung tissues of the rats with LPS-induced ALI, in comparison with the normal control (Figure 4A), which were consistent with the results of western blot analyses, manifesting that IL-1β, IL-18, IL-6, TNF-α and IFN-γ protein expressions were immensely hampered by QHSG in the lung tissue of LPS-induced ALI rats (Figure 4B).