Xiang et al. demonstrated that serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6 were significantly reduced in rats with lipopolysaccharide-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome after gavage of a mixture of SCFAs (acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid), suggesting that SCFAs could inhibit the expression of inflammatory factors to alleviate acute respiratory distress syndrome (Xiang et al., 2022). Here, TNF is linked to acute respiratory distress syndrome.