Whole BAL cell mRNA analysis showed that COL1A1 mRNA levels were higher not only in IPF but showed a similar trend in other ILD diagnostic subgroups, collectively compared to controls (one-way Anova test: p=0.03 and Welch’s t-test pairwise comparisons, IPF relative to healthy: p=0.036, N-IPF relative to healthy: p=0.051) (Figure 1, A). Here, COL1A1 is linked to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.