Studies have documented, in HE patients and rodent models with liver failure, the activation of microglia and hepatic macrophage, together with increases in pro-inflammatory factors, including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) [2, 6, 7]. The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is hereditary elliptocytosis.