Serum levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha/cachectin (TNF alpha) were studied in a group of adult patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), which include 31 patients with homozygous SS hemoglobinopathy and 10 patients bearing double heterozygous SC hemoglobinopathy and in their matched normal controls. All patients tested did not show any form of crisis for at least 4 weeks prior to the extraction of the sample. The amount of TNF alpha in serum was quantitated by means of an immunoenzymatic assay with a lower limit of detection of 25 pg/ml. The percentage of sera with detectable levels of TNF alpha was significantly increased in SCD patients as compared with the normal controls. Mean TNF alpha values in individuals with detectable levels of the cytokine were also significantly higher in the whole group of SCD patients and in patients bearing either SS or SC hemoglobinopathies than in the control group. An inverse correlation was observed between the percentages of Hb F and the levels of TNF alpha found in the sera from the patients.