The IL-16 (a cytokine) and CCL3 (a chemokine, also known as macrophage inflammatory protein-1α) have consistently showed significantly upregulated expression in patients with ARDS (Cruikshank et al., 2000; Houshmandfar et al., 2021; Kono et al., 2023). This evidence concerns the gene CCL3 and acute respiratory distress syndrome.