Tumor necrosis factor expression in arterial walls of diabetic rats.

Immunohistochemistry was used to detect tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) expression in arterial wall of diabetic rats. It was found that endothelial cells were swollen and markedly proliferative in these vessels and accordingly TNF-alpha showed strong positive immunohistochemical reaction in endothelial cells or extracellular intimal matrix of such vessels, which might be caused by the expression and release of TNF-alpha from monocytes and arterial wall cells stimulated by AGEs. These findings suggested that increased TNF-alpha expression might be associated with vascular damage and remodeling in diabetes.