Current pharmacotherapy has not been highly successful in increasing patient survival in cases of ALI/ARDS. Since PRRs were recognized, their significance in the mechanisms of ALI has been quickly identified. The combined activation of these different receptors may result in complementary, synergistic or antagonistic effects that modulate the process of ALI. Therefore, modification of PRR pathways is likely to be a logical therapeutic target for ALI/ARDS. However, a complete understanding of the role of PRRs in the mechanism of ALI requires further "decoding" of these multiple receptor interactions.