TNF and malnutrition: On the other hand, studies in animal models and clinical trials in malnourished children demonstrated that malnutrition affects several arms of the immune system including neutrophil chemotaxis and bactericidal capacity, macrophages phagocytic activity, dendritic cells maturation and the levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and complement proteins in blood [12].