TGFA and acute respiratory distress syndrome: Madtes et al. described a role for the epithelial and mesenchymal cell mitogen transforming growth factor (TGF)-α in the fibroproliferative response in ARDS and have shown that significant levels of TGF-α and procollagen peptide (PCP) III, a biological marker of fibroproliferation, are present in the BAL fluid of ARDS patients.