CRP and acute respiratory distress syndrome: As such, in severe cases of COVID-19, patients showed higher serum levels of inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IL-2, IL-6, IL-7, IL-10, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-12, IL-18, IL-33, tumor growth factor-β (TGF-β), macrophage inflammatory protein-1α (MIP-1α), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), interferon-inducible protein-10 (IP-10), chemokines (e.g., CXCL8, CXCL9, CXCL10, CCL2, CCL3, CCL5) [13,125,126,127,128], and c-reactive protein (CRP) [129,130,131] in the early phase as major causes of ARDS [132].