It is important to emphasize that the decrease in neutrophils seen in the lpr mice does not imply "protection". It is unclear whether the lung neutrophilic response is directly associated with negative outcomes in ALI/ARDS or not. Most studies of lung injury presume that neutrophilia or increased concentrations of cytokine are deleterious, but all of these studies are limited in that they do not effectively reproduce the series of events seen in the clinical setting, where patients with multiple comorbidities are intubated for prolonged periods of time. Our study should be interpreted as knowledge on the mechanisms of that initiate lung injury, but not extrapolated to the ultimate results of that injury.