TNF and Aortic dissection: In line with our results, Wen et al. reported in patients with acute aortic dissection (AD) levels of IL-6, TNF-α and CRP significantly increased than control, although serum MMP-9 significantly increased in Chronic aortic dissection than in AD patients and controls.25 Their results indicated a gradual increase in TNF-α levels leads to MMP-9 upregulation in neutrophils and macrophages.