Fig. 4. Effect of hydroxyethyl starch (HES) and isotonic saline (NaCl) resuscitation on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced venular leakage is shown. LPS (n = 8, control) significantly increased venular leakage (measured as the extravasation of the macromolecular fluorescein isothiocyanate [FITC] dextran) by about 30% during the 24-h observation period. HES (n = 7) significantly attenuated LPS-induced FITC dextran extravasation, whereas crystalloid application (n = 6, NaCl) further increased leakage after 1 h (time point, 4 h) and 5 h (time point, 8 h) of treatment and showed FITC extravasation in the range of control animals after 24 h. Data are mean ± SD. *Indicates significant differences (P < 0.05) of HES versus NaCl and control animals (Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA, Mann–Whitney U test).