This study investigated the involvement of substances derived from arachidonic acid in the mechanism of endotoxin's protective action against pulmonary oxygen toxicity, Eighty-three percent of rats treated with a small dose of endotoxin (1 mg/kg) survived exposure to over 95% oxygen for 7 days. In contrast, all control rats exposed to the same oxygen concentration died within 3 days. When the endotoxin-treated rats were also treated with the soluble lysine salt of acetylsalicylic acid (100 mg/kg), 7-day survival decreased to 25%. This suggests that prostaglandin metabolism may play an important role in the protective action of endotoxin during hyperoxia.