Although neutrophils and their secretory products play important roles in the pulmonary inflammation, such as ALI, they are a rather unspecific surrogate for lung-tissue injury [29-31], which may contribute to the disassociation of plasma levels of S100A12 with the occurrence and the severity of post-CPB ALI in the logistic analysis and the multiple linear regression analysis. The gene discussed is S100A12; the disease is acute respiratory distress syndrome.