Endotoxin protection against oxygen toxicity and its reversal by acetylsalicylic acid.

This study investigated the involvement of substances derived from arachidonic acid in the mechanism of endotoxin's protective action against pulmonary oxygen toxicity. Eighty-three percent of rats treated with a small dose of endotoxin (1 mg/kg) survived exposure to over 95% oxygen for 7 days. In contrast, all control rats exposed to the same oxygen concentration died within 3 days. When the endotoxin-treated rats were also treated with the soluble lysine salt of acetylsalicylic acid (100 mg/kg), 7-day survival decreased to 25%. This suggests that prostaglandin metabolism may play an important role in the protective action of endotoxin during hyperoxia.