LGALS9 and rheumatoid arthritis: Although there was no significant difference in serum levels of Gal-9 between RA patients with and without smoking history (Fig. 2a, p = 0.615), higher levels of serum Gal-9 were observed predominantly in RA patients with RA-ILD (9606 pg/ml [IQR 8522–12,167] versus 7078 pg/ml [IQR 5225–9447], p < 0.001) (Fig. 2b).