MMP9 and asthma: IL-1β, IL-6, and MMP-9, which are regulated by the NF-κB pathway, are major mediators of airway inflammation and remodeling in asthma (Eberhardt et al., 2000; Belleguic et al., 2002; Fu et al., 2015; Peters et al., 2016; Chen et al., 2020).