HMGB1 and acute respiratory distress syndrome: Luan et al. (34) and Ding et al. (67) demonstrated that the downregulation of HMGB1 can inhibit the activity of NF-κB, inhibit the expression of TNF-α, IL-1β, ICAM-1, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 9 in the lung tissue, and tissue, and therefore decrease the severity of AP-associated ALI.