We have previously reported that the combination of MV + LPS for 6 hours (2 hr longer than the present study) is associated with distal organ injury, in particular biochemical and histologic evidence of kidney and liver damage [24] . In this study, we also noticed an increase in serum creatinine in the mice exposed to MV + LPS, but this increase was strain-independent ( Figure 5-A) . Interestingly, the lpr mice had increased serum AST concentrations at baseline, and this was not further increased by the addition of MV + LPS (Figure 5-B) . Total bilirubin was similar in lpr and B6 mice, and was not affected by MV + LPS (Figure 5-C) . Thus, at this early time the evidence of distal organ injury was limited to increased creatinine, and this increase was not dependent on the Fas/FasL system.