Significant increases in the contents of IL-6 (93.4 ± 11.6 pg/ml), IL-1β (198.7 ± 26.8 pg/ml) and TNF-α (143.1 ± 19.3 pg/ml) in sera from ALI mice were detected, as compared to those in control mice (16.8 ± 2.3, 42.5 ± 4.9, 26.4 ± 3.1 pg/ml). The gene discussed is IL1B; the disease is acute respiratory distress syndrome.