October 15, 2013: New clinical evidence of the involvement of TNF in the pathogenesis of neurological dysfunction following traumatic brain injury has been published by a research consortium in the UK. The lead author is Ryan J. Waters from Wessex Neurological Centre, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (Cytokine gene polymorphisms and outcome after traumatic brain injury. J Neurotrauma, 2013. 30(20): p. 1710-6). The article abstract includes: “….Cytokines play an important role in mediating the inflammatory response provoked within the central nervous system after TBI. This study was designed to identify associations between cytokine gene polymorphisms and clinical outcome 6 months after head injury. A prospectively identified cohort of patients (n=1096, age range 0-93 years, mean age 37) was used. Clinical outcome at 6 months was assessed using the Glasgow Outcome Scale. In an initial screen of 11 cytokine gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) previously associated with disease susceptibility or outcome … TNFA -308 was identified as having a likely association. The TNFA -308 SNP was further evaluated, and a significant association was identified…. These findings are consistent with experimental and clinical data suggesting that neuroinflammation has an impact on clinical outcome after TBI and that tumor necrosis factor alpha plays an important role in this process. (emphasis added). Although results can vary (see the Terms of Use) these findings support the scientific rationale underlying the clinical results reported in 2012 by Edward Tobinick M.D. and his colleagues (Tobinick, E., et al.,CNS Drugs, 2012. 26(12): p. 1051-70).