Ang/Tie also may contribute to critical illness in patients with pulmonary conditions. Ang-1 and Ang-2 concentrations in sputum from asthma patients correlated with airway microvascular permeability [26] . In patients with exudative pleural effusion, the Ang-2 level was increased whereas Ang-1 was unchanged [27] . Ang-2 levels are associated with pulmonary vascular leakage and the severity of acute lung injury. Plasma from patients with acute lung injury and high Ang-2 concentrations disrupts junctional architecture in vitro in human microvascular ECs [28, 29] .