. Effect of NADPH oxidase inhibition on cardiopulmonary bypass-induced lung injury. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 287: H927-H936, 2004; 10.1152/ajpheart.01138.2003.-Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) causes acute lung injury. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) from NADPH oxidase may contribute to this injury. To determine the role of NADPH oxidase, we pretreated pigs with structurally dissimilar NADPH oxidase inhibitors. Low-dose apocynin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-acetophenone; 200 mg/kg, n ϭ 6), highdose apocynin (400 mg/kg, n ϭ 6), or diphenyleneiodonium (DPI; 8 mg/kg) was compared with diluent (n ϭ 8). An additional group was treated with indomethacin (10 mg/kg, n ϭ 3). CPB was performed for 2 h with deflated lungs, complete pulmonary artery occlusion, and bronchial artery ligation to maximize lung injury. Parameters of pulmonary function were evaluated for 25 min following CPB. Blood chemiluminescence indicated neutrophil ROS production. Electron paramagnetic resonance determined the effect of apocynin and DPI on in vitro pulmonary endothelial ROS production following hypoxiareoxygenation. Both apocynin and DPI attenuated blood chemiluminescence and post-CPB hypoxemia. At 25 min post-CPB with FI O 2 ϭ 1, arterial PO2 (PaO 2 ) averaged 52 Ϯ 5, 162 Ϯ 54, 335 Ϯ 88, and 329 Ϯ 119 mmHg in control, low-dose apocynin, high-dose apocynin, and DPI-treated groups, respectively (P Ͻ 0.01). Indomethacin had no effect. PaO 2 correlated with blood chemiluminescence measured after drug administration before CPB (R ϭ Ϫ0.60, P Ͻ 0.005). Neither apocynin nor DPI prevented the increased tracheal pressure, plasma cytokine concentrations (tumor necrosis factor-␣ and IL-6), extravascular lung water, and pulmonary vascular protein permeability observed in control pigs. NADPH oxidase inhibition, but not xanthine oxidase inhibition, significantly blocked endothelial ROS generation following hypoxia-reoxygenation (P Ͻ 0.05). NADPH oxidase-derived ROS contribute to the severe hypoxemia but not to the increased cytokine generation and pulmonary vascular protein permeability, which occur following CPB. diphenyleneiodonium; apocynin; reflection coefficient; pig; endothelium; hypoxia-reoxygenation; tumor necrosis factor; interleukin-6 CARDIOPULMONARY BYPASS (CPB) causes significant lung injury characterized by abnormal gas exchange and pulmonary edema (61). Pulmonary dysfunction results in a mortality rate of nearly 0.7% following cardiac surgery (12, 28), accounting for over half of the 1.3% overall mortality associated with this procedure (11). Proposed mechanisms behind CPB-induced lung injury include the adverse effects of pulmonary vascular ischemia and reperfusion (18), and, if the lung is deflated during CPB, tissue hypoxia and reoxygenation (18, 33). The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is common to all of these injurious mechanisms and is thought to play an important role in the ensuing injury. Sources of ROS include activated inflammatory cells, such as neutrophils (44) and macrophages, as well as vascular endothelial cells subject...