CRP and pulmonary fibrosis: Elevated CRP is a well-established marker of systemic inflammation and is involved in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis by promoting alveolar epithelial injury and fibroblast activation through interleukin-6 (IL-6) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signaling pathways (George et al., 2020; Mylvaganam et al., 2021).