Mechanical ventilation (MV) may aggravate lung injury induced by a variety of injuries, including intratracheal hydrochloric acid instillation,1 intratracheal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) instillation with or without concurrent saline lavage,2 intravenous LPS,3 or intravenous oleic acid.4 However, the mechanism for this detrimental effect of MV is unclear.