FGF18 and pulmonary fibrosis: For instance, in contrast to its anti-fibrotic effect in TGF-β1-induced lung fibrosis, FGF1 and FGFR1-4 are also expressed increasingly in IPF lungs, and FGF1 treatment led to decreased collagen production and increased apoptosis of IPF-derived lung fibroblasts, suggesting that FGF1 may lead to the pathogenesis of lung fibrosis.319 Recent studies reported that FGF9 and FGF18 decreased normal fibroblast apoptosis, but had no effect on fibroblasts from IPF patients.