IL6 and acute respiratory distress syndrome: The following top 10 hub genes were identified from the PPI network: IL-6, IL-1β, CXCL10, CD274, CCL2, TLR2, CXCL1, CCL3, IFIT1, and IFIT3. Immune infiltration analysis revealed a significantly increased abundance of M1 and M2 macrophages in lung tissue from the ALI group compared to the control group.