In addition to its participation as a chemokine, a hint of possible processes involved comes from a study on human lung fibroblasts, reporting that CXCL16 facilitates fibrosis by enhancing proliferation, migration and collagen production21, and from a study associating CXCL16 with ARDS in patients with severe pneumonia13. This evidence concerns the gene CXCL16 and acute respiratory distress syndrome.