Objective To investigate the influence of chronic alcohol ingestion on the severity of acute lung injury (ALI) induced by oleic acid and lipopolysaccharide (LPS).Methods Thirty-two SD rats were randomly administrated with alcohol or water for 6 weeks，then instilled with oleic acid and LPS to induce ALI or with normal saline as control.Thus the rats were randomly divided into two injury groups [ethanol group and water group] and two control groups [ethanol group and water group] (n=8 in each group). PaO2,Wet to dry lung weight ratio (W/D)，levels of γ-glutamylcysteinylglycine (GSH) and malonaldehyde (MDA) in the lung tissue were measured.Results Compared to corresponding control groups，the PaO2 and GSH significantly decreased，and the lung W/D and MDA level were significantly increased in the injury groups (all Plt;0.05).In the injury groups，the changes of above parameters were more significant in the alcohol group than thoe in the water group (all Plt;0.05)，except the lung W/D with no significant difference.Conclusion Chronic ethanol ingestion was relevalent to oxidation/ antioxidation imbalance and more severe lung injury in rats with severe septic after trauma,which suggests that chronic alcohol abuse could increase the severity of acute lung injury.