In agreement, previous reports have indicated that ATP stimulation of alveolar macrophages, derived from both IPF and lung cancer patients, led exclusively to an elevation in IL-18 levels (Lasithiotaki et al., 2018; Lasithiotaki et al., 2016), which was explained by an impaired NLRP3 inflammasome and a defective autophagy in IPF patients (Patel et al., 2012). Here, IL18 is linked to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.