The most relevant cytokines that were significantly associated with ARDS were MCP-3 (HR 2.56; 95% CI 1.56, 4.22; p = 0.002) TNF-α (HR 2.03; 95% CI 1.46, 2.80; p < 0.001), fractalkine (HR 2.02; 95% CI 1.31, 3.1; p = 0.006), M-CSF (HR 1.73; 95% CI 1.25, 2.39; p = 0.004), and MCP-1 (HR 1.67; 95% CI 1.17, 2.39; p = 0.02) (estimates for other significant cytokines are shown in Supplementary Table 8c). Here, TNF is linked to acute respiratory distress syndrome.