MMP12 and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: Remarkably, it exits great evidence that links the alteration of MMPs and TIMPs levels with the pathogenesis of IPF based upon the results of studies reporting elevated levels of these proteins, including MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-7, MMP-9, MMP-12, and TIMP-1, in blood samples of IPF patients, and highlighting MMP-7 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of the disease (Wang et al. 2023a; Atkinson and Senior 2003; Balci et al. 2023; Inoue et al. 2020; Craig et al. 2015; Pardo and Selman 2006; Richards et al. 2012; Rosas et al. 2008; Song et al. 2013; Todd et al. 2020; Tzouvelekis et al. 2017).