Right lung: lung permeability, cytokine detection, differential cell count After thoracotomy lungs were perfused free of blood with ice cold phosphate buffered saline. Bronchoalveolar lavage of the right lung was performed by instilling two times 300 mL NaCl via tracheal tubing. About 500 mL BAL fluid was retrieved from each mouse. BAL fluid was centrifuged and the supernatant was frozen for quantification of proteins. The pellet was transferred to a cytospin preparation, followed by a modified Giemsa stain (Diff-Quick; Medion Diagnostics, Düdingen, CH) and differential leukocyte count. Cytokine levels in serum and BAL fluid were quantified with commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) (R+D Systems, Abingdon; UK). BSA was quantified in blood serum and BAL fluid by ELISA (Bethyl Laboratories, Montgomery, USA). The ratio of BSA in serum and BAL fluid was calculated to determine microvascular permeability. Additionally, total protein levels were measured using a DC protein assay (BioRad, Hercules, CA, USA).