Neutrophil derived proteases such as elastase and plasmin cleave VEGF (20–22) into a smaller VEGF isomer (fragmented VEGF (fVEGF)) with altered VEGF signaling (20), and so an important but underrecognized effect of increased neutrophil activity during acute and chronic inflammation such as seen in ARDS (23, 24) and UC (25) is VEGF dysregulation. Here, VEGFA is linked to acute respiratory distress syndrome.