NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation and interleukin (IL)-1β release by alveolar macrophages (AMs) was identified as a mechanism for severe acute lung injury (ALI) development in a two-hit model of ARDS using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) instillation and MV (Jones et al., 2014). This evidence concerns the gene IL1B and acute respiratory distress syndrome.