Similarly, we detected a high level of TGF-β1 in the supernatant either of the co-culture system or HBMSC alone (Fig. 6b, P < 0.01), concomitant with marked suppression of IL-6, IL-8, and MCP-1 (Fig. 6a, P < 0.05) and a significantly elevated IP-10 secretion in comparison to the co-culture of CTD-UIP HLFs with NHLFs. Here, CCL2 is linked to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.