The pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-18 were elevated in PBMCs of IPF patients and mice with BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis, with this increase linked to the release of the pro-fibrotic cytokine TGF-β through an AIM2 canonical inflammasome-dependent pathway [55]. This evidence concerns the gene AIM2 and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.