Notably, ROC analyses further verified the capacity of MMP-7 and MMP-10 serum levels for characterizing RA-ILD+versus IPF patients (AUC: 0.8059, p < 0.0001 and AUC: 0.6499, p = 0.0174, respectively, Fig. 6A, Additional File 2: Table S2), as well as SSc-ILD+versus IPF patients (AUC: 0.7462, p = 0.0002 and AUC: 0.7071, p = 0.0019, respectively, Fig. 6B, Additional File 2: Table S2). Here, MMP10 is linked to rheumatoid arthritis.