TNF and periodontitis: Also, from a mechanistic point of view, these popular herbal products target periodontitis through several mechanisms, such as suppression of COX and LOX, NF-kB signaling pathway, reduction of levels of MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-8, MCP-1, and the expression of some inflammatory agents (e.g., IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α) which all are involved in periodontitis pathogenesis directly or indirectly.