OBJECTIVE: To study the mechanism of tumor necrosis factor( TNF)-α and its receptor( TNFR) signal transduction pathways in regulating cell apoptosis of alveolar macrophage( AM) in coal workers' pneumoconiosis( CWP).METHODS: Twenty-four coal workers with pneumoconiosis at stage Ⅰ were selected as CWP group and four observation subjects exposed to coal were chosen as observation group by using simple random sampling method. The bronchoalveolar lavage fluids of whole-lung lavage of two groups were collected. AMs were separated and purified. Then they were divided into 6 groups: a control group,a superoxide dismutase( SOD) group,a TNF/TNFR group,an anti-TNF-α antibody group,a Caspase-8 suppression group and a nuclear factor-κB( NF-κB) suppression group. The AMs of 6 groups with corresponding treatment were cultivated. After 24 hours,the cells were harvested and proteins extracted. The relative expression of TNF-α,TNFR1,TNFR2,Caspase-8,Caspase-3,NF-κB P50 and NF-κB P65 protein was detected by Western blotting. RESULTS: The protein relative expression of TNF-α,TNFR2,Caspase-8,Caspase-3,NF-κB P50 and NF-κB P65 in CWP group was significantly higher than those in the observation group( P < 0. 05). The protein relative expression of TNF-α,TNFR1,Caspase-8,Caspase-3 and NF-κB P50 in the TNF/TNFR group and the anti-TNF-αantibody group was lower than that of the control group( P < 0. 05). The above indexes in the anti-TNF-α antibody group were lower than that of the NF-κB suppression group( P < 0. 05). The protein relative expression of TNFR1,Caspase-8and Caspase-3 in the TNF/TNFR group was higher than that of the SOD group and the Caspase-8 suppression group( P <0. 05). The protein relative expression of TNFR1,Caspase-8 and NF-κB P50 in the TNF/TNFR group was lower than that of the NF-κB suppression group( P < 0. 05). Among the CWP patients,the relative expression of TNFR2 and NF-κB P65 in the TNF/TNFR group was lower than that of the control group( P < 0. 05),and higher than that of the SOD group( P <0. 05). CONCLUSION: AM apoptosis mediated by TNF-α/TNFR/NF-κB signal transduction pathway plays an important role in the occurrence and development of CWP. The TNF-α/TNFR/NF-κB signal transduction pathways inhibited or blocked at different stages can affect the expression of proteins related to AM apoptosis.