It has been suggested that low intensity laser therapy (LILT) acts on pulmonary inflammation. Thus, we investigate in this work if LILT (650nm, 2.5mW, 31.2mW/cm(2), 1.3J/cm(2), laser spot size of 0.08cm(2) and irradiation time of 42s) can attenuate edema, neutrophil recruitment and inflammatory mediators in acute lung inflammation. Thirty-five male Wistar rats (n=7 per group) were distributed in the following experimental groups: control, laser, LPS, LPS+laser and dexamethasone+LPS. Airway inflammation was measured 4h post-LPS challenge. Pulmonary microvascular leakage was used for measuring pulmonary edema. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cellularity and myeloperoxidase (MPO) were used for measuring neutrophil recruitment and activation. RT-PCR was performed in lung tissue to assess mRNA expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin (IL-10), cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant-1 (CINC-1), macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). Protein levels in both BALF and lung were determined by ELISA. LILT inhibited pulmonary edema and endothelial cytoskeleton damage, as well as neutrophil influx and activation. Similarly, the LILT reduced the TNF-α and IL-1β, in lung and BALF. LILT prevented lung ICAM-1 up-regulation. The rise of CINC-1 and MIP-2 protein levels in both lung and BALF, and the lung mRNA expressions for IL-10, were unaffected. Data suggest that the LILT effect is due to the inhibition of ICAM-1 via the inhibition of TNF-α and IL-1β.