We conclude that at low lung volumes, cyclic opening and closing from ZEEP leads to greater increases in bronchoalveolar lavage cytokines than atelectasis. With high-volume ventilation, over time, the degree of overdistension is more associated with increases in bronchoalveolar lavage cytokines than cyclic opening and closing alone.

We conclude that heat stress applied after the initiation of endotoxemia can provide protection against an otherwise lethal stimulus and that the mechanism of protection may be related to the attenuation of plasma IL-1 beta concentrations.