WNK2 and acute respiratory distress syndrome: Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) have been considered as target molecular pathways for ALI and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which are also the essential active pathways for macrophages to produce inflammatory cytokines, and in turn to promote the development of ALI (Li Q. et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020).