TNF and Obesity: Obese mice fed a high-fat diet for eight weeks exhibited a large increase in relative gene expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), a primary marker of the innate immune response, in the tongue epithelial tissues containing taste buds; this rise in inflammatory markers coincided with reduced taste buds in circumvallate papillae [84]; the effect of obesity on the fungiform papillae was also observed in rats [15] and young males along with a deficit in salty and sweet taste [68,85].