TNF and ischemia: Carthamus tinctorius L. [Asteraceae; Carthami flos] reduces cerebral infarction and neurological deficits in ischemia-reperfusion injury and cerebral infarction models by mitigating free radicals and pro-inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α and IL-1β (Fu et al., 2016; Wang Y. et al., 2020).