TNF and aortic stenosis: Briefly, pro-inflammatory(M1) macrophages, which are the predominant subset found in calcific AS, producepleiotropic cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6.TNF-α strongly activates the canonical nuclear factorkappa-B (NF-κB) pathway, whichpromotes the expression of genes associated with inflammation and affects themineralization of VIC [57].