TGFB1 and acute respiratory distress syndrome: In a previous study about the prognostic value of free TGF-β1 levels in BALF performed in 29 ARDS patients, Budinger et al. found a trend to higher BALF levels of TGF-β1 in ARDS nonsurvivors as compared to survivors but the difference did not reach the significance (p = 0.14).[13] TGF-β1 mediates far-ranging biological processes including cell growth, inflammation, angiogenesis, tumorogenesis, morphogenesis, fibrogenesis and tissue repair.[5, 37, 38] The exact biological role of TGF-β1 in lung pathophysiology has not been clearly identified.