MALAT1 and acute respiratory distress syndrome: Recently, considerable literature has grown up around the theme of lncRNAs and sepsis-associated diseases: (1) lncRNA CASC2 attenuates sepsis-induced injury in pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells via regulating the microRNA (miR)-152-3p/PDK4 axis [16]; (2) lncRNA XIST accelerates inflammatory responses and apoptosis in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI [17]; (3) knockdown of lncRNA MALAT1 ameliorates ALI via apoptosis inhibition [11].