After the discovery of rs9984273, and recognizing its role in the outcome of the previous clinical ARDS studies, we then investigated, whether this polymorphism contributes to the expression of the IFNAR (composed of IFNAR1 and IFNAR2 subunits) by immunohistochemistry using antibodies against IFNAR subunits of the receptor in surgical lung specimens from 14 patients. The gene discussed is IFNAR2; the disease is acute respiratory distress syndrome.