Objective To investigate the effects of nitric oxide precursor L-arginine on traumatic pulmonary contusion. Methods Sixty Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups, ie. a normal group, a model group, and a L-arginine group. The model of traumatic pulmonary contusion was established with self-made chest-impacter. Then the rats in the L-arginine group was injected intravenously with L-arginine in a dose of 250 mg/kg. All rats were sacrificed at 24 hours after these models established.Levels of TNF-α and nitric oxide ( NO2 - /NO3- ) in serum were measured by ELISA and diazo-reaction method. Lung wet/dry weight ratio, NF-κB, endothelin-1, apoptotic cell, and ICAM-1 ( intercellular adhesion molecule-1) mRNA expressions in the lung tissue were measured. Results Compared with the model group,TNF-αand lung wet/dry weight ratio decreased significantly in the L-arginine group( P lt; 0. 05) . After the L-arginine treatment, the concentration of nitric oxide, apoptotic index were significantly higher than the model group ( P lt; 0. 05) . The expressions of NF-κB, endothelin-1, and ICAM-1 mRNA in the L-arginine group were lower than those in the model group ( P lt;0. 05) . Conclusion L-arginine treatment can downregulate the expressions of NF-κB, ET-1, ICAM-1 mRNA and apoptosis obviously, and ameliorate the microcirculation of rats lung with traumatic pulmonary contusion.