Although lung-protective ventilation strategies have substantially reduced mortality of acute
lung injury patients there is still a need for new therapies that can further decrease mortality
in patients with acute lung injury. Studies of epithelial ion and fluid transport across the distal
pulmonary epithelia have provided important new concepts regarding potential new
therapies for acute lung injury. Overall, there is convincing evidence that the alveolar
epithelium is not only a tight epithelial barrier that resists the movement of edema fluid into …