HMGB1 and pulmonary fibrosis: This experimental study showed that after 28 days of intervention, both ASV and QUE could reduce the aggregation of pulmonary inflammatory cells, improve pulmonary fibrosis (Fig 2A:c-d, Fig 2B:c-d), and decrease levels of α-SMA, HYP, the lung coefficient (Fig 2C-E) and reduce the levels of inflammatory factors TNF-a, TGF-β1, and HMGB1 in silicosis rats (Fig 3A-C).