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01Markers · Inflammation

TNF-α

Tumor necrosis factor alpha

A cytokine made mainly by immune cells that promotes inflammation. It circulates as a three-part molecule.

Measured in
Blood (serum or plasma)
Units
pg/mL
Also called
TNF-α, TNF, cachectin
Three identical protein units packed into a cone-shaped trimer.
Human tumor necrosis factor-α trimer · PDB 1TNF

AWhat moves TNF-α

23 of 27 studied

In human studies, 22 of the 27 supplements and practices researched so far lowered TNF-α. 1 had mixed results. 4 were never studied for it.
  • Supported 22
  • No effect 0
  • Conflicting 1
  • Not studied 4
See TNF-α on the evidence map →Check claims about TNF-α →

Moves it22

Human studies found a change. The grade reflects the studies behind it, from A (strongest) to D.

ResveratrolLowersGrade A

Resveratrol lowers TNF-α.

Meta-analysis or review · Small effect · 51 studies linked

Studied in: Obese, Metabolic syndrome, Adults

timmers_2011: -1.01 pg/mL (p=0.04). 783 corpus studies. See tnf_alpha entry for detail. Merged: tnf_a and tnf_alpha refer to same biomarker.

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Vitamin D3LowersGrade A

Vitamin D3 lowers TNF-α.

Meta-analysis or review · Small effect · 17 studies linked

Studied in: Deficient baseline

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L-carnitineLowersGrade A

L-carnitine lowers TNF-α.

Meta-analysis or review · Moderate effect · 15 studies linked

Studied in: General adult, T2DM, CKD, Animal model

131 studies in corpus — largest inflammatory marker dataset. Consolidated with tnf_alpha tier_2 entry. Wang 2020 confirms direction in animal model. Human RCT effect sizes heterogeneous.

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HIITLowersGrade A

HIIT lowers TNF-α.

Meta-analysis or review · 14 studies linked

Studied in: Overweight obese, T2DM, Metabolic syndrome, Children adolescents

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MagnesiumLowersGrade A

Magnesium lowers TNF-α.

Meta-analysis or review · 14 studies linked

Studied in: Metabolic syndrome, T2DM

Biologically plausible via NF-κB suppression; individual RCT data mixed; insufficient MA-level evidence at pass 1; to be updated in RCT passes

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Vitamin ELowersGrade A

Vitamin E lowers TNF-α.

Meta-analysis or review · Small effect · 13 studies linked

Studied in: NAFLD, Adult, Mixed sex

WMD −2.1 pg/mL (95% CI −3.8 to −0.4) from VE-MA-005. Consistent with NF-κB suppression mechanism.

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BerberineLowersGrade A

Berberine lowers TNF-α.

Meta-analysis or review · 9 studies linked

Studied in: Metabolic syndrome, T2DM, Predominantly Chinese

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Milk thistleLowersGrade A

Milk thistle lowers TNF-α.

Meta-analysis or review · Moderate effect · 9 studies linked

Studied in: NAFLD, NASH, Chronic liver disease, Animal models

Approximately −0.65 SMD but weighted toward animal studies. 119 studies in corpus — predominantly preclinical. Human RCT data for systemic TNF-α reduction as primary endpoint is sparse. See pc_016.

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TaurineLowersGrade A

Taurine lowers TNF-α.

Meta-analysis or review · 8 studies linked

Studied in: Inflammatory conditions, Type 2 diabetes, Adults

148 corpus studies — highest inflammatory biomarker coverage. MA confirms direction. Note: tnf_alpha entry with quarantined nagaoka_2022 source should be superseded by this entry.

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Ubiquinol (CoQ10)LowersGrade A

Ubiquinol (CoQ10) lowers TNF-α.

Meta-analysis or review · 7 studies linked

Studied in: Chronic inflammatory disease, Rheumatoid arthritis, Metabolic syndrome, Multiple sclerosis

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MelatoninLowersGrade A

Melatonin lowers TNF-α.

Small effect · 2 studies linked

Studied in: Adults, Metabolic syndrome, T2DM, NAFLD

Smaller effect than CRP/IL-6; consistent direction across 9 studies; less data from healthy populations; NF-κB suppression is primary mechanism

  • Cho M et al. (2021)
  • Zarezadeh M et al. (2022)
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CreatineLowersGrade A

Creatine lowers TNF-α.

Meta-analysis or review · Small effect · 1 study linked

Studied in: Healthy adults, Athletes, Older adults, Cardiac failure

TNF-α significantly reduced per de_camargo_2026 MA; magnitude modest (WMD −0.28 pg/mL); consistent with NF-κB inhibition proposed mechanism; grade A based on MA-level evidence

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Omega-3LowersGrade A

Omega-3 lowers TNF-α.

Small effect · 1 study linked

Studied in: Adult, Cardiometabolic risk, Elevated inflammation

  • Guo XF, Li X, Shi M, Li D (2019)
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ZincLowersGrade B

Zinc lowers TNF-α.

Meta-analysis or review · 10 studies linked

Studied in: Adults, T2D, Inflammatory conditions, Global

Directionally consistent across MAs but magnitude highly uncertain due to heterogeneity (I² >80% in several MAs). Some sensitivity analyses reduce significance. Effect strongest in inflammatory disease populations.

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AshwagandhaLowersGrade B

Ashwagandha lowers TNF-α.

Human trials · 3 studies linked

Studied in: Preclinical models, Human data insufficient

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Finnish saunaLowersGrade B

Finnish sauna lowers TNF-α.

Human trials · 3 studies linked

Studied in: Heart failure, Japanese population

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Red yeast riceLowersGrade B

Red yeast rice lowers TNF-α.

Human trials · 3 studies linked

Studied in: NAFLD, Hyperlipidemia, Chinese

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NACLowersGrade B

NAC lowers TNF-α.

Human trials · Large effect · 2 studies linked

Studied in: Rheumatoid arthritis, COPD, Adult, Cap patients

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NAD+LowersGrade B

NAD+ lowers TNF-α.

Human trials · 2 studies linked

13 corpus studies mention TNF-α but no full-text enrichment performed. Same preclinical mechanism as IL-6. Priority extraction target for future passes.

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Zone 2 cardioLowersGrade B

Zone 2 cardio lowers TNF-α.

Meta-analysis or review · 2 studies linked

Studied in: Adults overweight obese, Adults T2DM

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Vitamin CLowersGrade B

Vitamin C lowers TNF-α.

1 study linked

Studied in: Adults, Elevated inflammatory state, Mixed cardiometabolic

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L-theanineLowersGrade C

L-theanine lowers TNF-α.

Human trials · 1 study linked

Studied in: No human data

Despite 33 corpus studies (highest inflammatory count), no human pure L-theanine TNF-α data has been extracted. Preclinical NRF2-mediated anti-inflammatory effects are well-documented.

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Mixed results1

Studies disagree, or the direction depends on who was studied.

PQQMixed resultsGrade D

Studies of PQQ and TNF-α disagree.

2 studies linked

Studied in: Swine, Animal model, Not human

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Not studied4

No usable human study has measured TNF-α with these. A gap is not a negative result: nobody has looked.

CollagenIronLion's maneVitamin K2

Commission research on a gap →

BThe molecule

Human tumor necrosis factor-α trimer

Rendered from its published atomic structure.

Structure: PDB 1TNF · X-ray, 2.6 Å · Eck & Sprang, J Biol Chem 1989. Rendered from atomic coordinates in Blender; 3,552 atoms, about 8 nm across.

Why trials measure it. Anti-inflammatory trials report it alongside IL-6 and CRP as a measure of immune signaling.

About this marker: Definition of tumor necrosis factor (NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms, National Cancer Institute).

Evidence states come from published human studies found in PubMed and OpenAlex and read by a model pipeline. "Not studied" means no usable human study was found for this marker, which is a gap, not a negative result. Every result links its studies so you can check it.

Research summary for education. Not medical advice.