Abstract Murine sepsis models have not recapitulated human acute respiratory distress syndrome, a major complication of human sepsis. We investigated whether preexisting T cell memory, common in human adults but lacking in laboratory mice, contributes to lung inflammation in the cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) model of sepsis. We compared the pulmonary immune response to CLP in "Immune-Educated" mice (treated with anti-CD3ε activating antibody to induce T cell memory) to Uneducated controls.