Resveratrol, a phytoalexin found in a range of plant products, may exert a variety of pharmacological activities. In this study, we investigated the effect of resveratrol on acute lung injury (ALI) induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in vivo, and we found that the pretreatment with resveratrol can effectively protect mice against LPS-induced ALI. Mice were pretreated with 1 mg/kg resveratrol for 3 days before challenging with a dose of 15 mg/ kg LPS. The histological result showed that resveratrol can suppress the edema, inflammatory cell infiltration, and alveolar structure damage of lungs in ALI mice, and a decrease in the lung W/D ratio was also observed in mice with resveratrol pretreatment. Additionally, resveratrol markedly decreased the production of inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1b and MIP-1a and prevented the release of nitric oxide (NO) through inhibiting the expression of inducible NO synthase in lung tissues. Furthermore, the pretreatment with resveratrol suppressed the nuclear translocation of NFjB in lung tissues, which may be partly responsible for its effect on the ALI. In conclusion, the results presented here may suggest resveratrol as a potential therapeutic agent for treating ALI in the future. Anat Rec, 294:527-532, 2011. V V C 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Key words: resveratrol; acute lung injury; lipopolysaccharide; NF-jB Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common clinical problem, which is characterized by the upregulation of inflammatory mediators in the host and followed by an onset of dyspnea, severe hypoxemia, and pulmonary edema, thus leading to significant morbidity and mortality (Erickson et al., 2009;Martinez et al., 2009). Several animal models have been developed to study the pathophysiologic mechanism involved in ALI, and the intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a component of the outer cell wall of most gram-negative bacteria, is one of the most common accepted models. ALI represents a state of excess production of inflammatory mediators, including cytokines, chemokines, and adhesion molecules (Ware and Matthay, 2000); and the release of LPS is a major stimulus for release of cytokines, which may further cause pulmonary damage leading to ALI (Ware et al., 2007). Although great advances in understanding the pathophysiology of ALI had been achieved, the available therapies have not reduced the mortality or increased the quality of life in survivors.Upregulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) increased the production of nitric oxide (NO), which was observed in ALI both in animal models and humans