Although we did not find further MMPs or TIMPs associated with the severity or poor evolution of both RA-ILD+ and SSc-ILD+, in agreement with other authors (Chen et al. 2022), our work showed for the first time that serum MMP-10 levels may have clinical value in screening the progression of severe phases of RA-ILD+ patients. Here, MMP10 is linked to rheumatoid arthritis.