The patients with ILD exhibited higher RIG-I gene and protein expression levels than those without lung disease (0.112 ± 0.048 vs. 0.051 ± 0.029; p = 0.002, 0.363 ± 0.190 vs. 0.187 ± 0.078, p = 0.014) (Additional file 3: Figure S3B). Here, RIGI is linked to interstitial lung disease.