Background: Long-term mechanical ventilation with hyperoxia can induce lung injury. General anesthesia is associated with a very high incidence of hyperoxaemia, despite it usually lasts for a relatively short period of time. It remains unclear whether short-term mechanical ventilation with hyperoxia has an adverse impact on or cause injury to the lungs. The present study aimed to assess whether short-term mechanical ventilation with hyperoxia may cause lung injury in rats and whether deferoxamine (DFO), a ferrous ion chelator, could mitigate such injury to the lungs and explore the possible mechanism. Methods: Twenty-four SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups (n=8/group): mechanical ventilated with normoxia group (MV group, FiO2=21%), with hyperoxia group (HMV group, FiO2=90%), or with hyperoxia + DFO group (HMV+DFO group, FiO2=90%). Mechanical ventilation under different oxygen concentrations was given for 4 hours.The HMV+DFO group received continuous intravenous infusion of DFO at 200mg•kg-1•d-1, while the MV and HMV groups received an equal volume of normal saline. Carotid artery cannulation was carried out to monitor the blood gas parameters under mechanical ventilation for 2 hours and 4 hours, respectively, and the PaO2/FiO2 ratio was calculated. After 4 hours ventilation, the right anterior lobe of the lung and BALF from the right lung was sampled for pathological and biochemical assays. Results: PaO2 in the HMV and HMV+DFO groups were significantly higher, but the PaO2/FiO2 ratio were significantly lower than those of the MV group (all p<0.01). The lung pathological scores and the wet-to-dry weight ratio (W/D) in the HMV and HMV+DFO groups were significantly higher than those of the MV group, but score and the W/D ratio were reduced by DFO (p<0.05). Biochemically, HMV resulted in significant reductions in SP-C, SP-D, and GR levels and elevation of XOD in both the Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and the lung tissue homogenate, and all these changes were prevented or significantly reverted by DFO. Conclusions: Mechanical ventilation with hyperoxia for 4 hours induced oxidative injury of the lungs, accompanied by a dramatic reduction in the concentrations of SP-C and SP-D. DFO could mitigate such injury by lowering XOD activity and elevating GR activity.