TNF and infection: In contrast to the other two genes, the combination of thehelminth infection and the prolonged ethanol consumptioncaused underexpression of Tnf in the hippocampus of Eth+OFmice; this phenomenon may be a compensatory reaction tothe elevated amount of the TNF protein in this brain structure.An even higher level of this protein was detected in thecortex at level 74 of the frontal brain section during ethanoladministration, but the Tnf mRNA level in the frontal cortexwas the same among all the groups of mice.