TNF and pancreatitis: Recent studies have shown that inhibition of the MAPK pathway ameliorates chronic inflammatory conditions such as encephalitis, pancreatitis and enteritis [24, 25] by, among other things, inhibiting the release of inflammatory cytokines such as Tumor necrosis factor-ɑ (TNF-ɑ), Interleukin 6 (IL-6), and Interleukin 1β (IL-1β) [26].