PLA2G2A and acute respiratory distress syndrome: We found that: (1) BAL fluids from all the groups of patients with early and late ARDS and controls contained EVs bearing biochemical (e.g., CD63 protein marker) and morphological characteristics of exosomes, (2) PLA2G2A mRNA was present in all the EV preparations but most abundantly in early ARDS EVs, and, (3) sPLA2-IIA protein was detected in the small EV preparations only from patients with early ARDS.