We studied the effect of systemic hypoxemia and hypercarbia on the bronchial blood flow in open-chested, anesthetized dogs. The pulmonary artery and vein of the left lower lobe (LLL) were isolated with cannulas and connected to reservoirs set at atmospheric pressure relative to the base of the LLL. That fraction of the bronchial arterial flow (Qbr) to the LLL, which flowed through the bronchopulmonary anastomoses into these reservoirs, was continuously measured. The LLL was inflated continuously with 6% CO2 and air at a constant alveolar pressure of 10 cm H2O. Systemic arterial O2 tension (PaO2) and arterial CO2 tension (PaCO2) were varied by separately ventilating the right lung through a bifurcated endotracheal tube. A 10-min period was allowed for stabilization after each change in experimental condition. Anastomotic Qbr was measured for 5 min during each experiment. In separate animals, similar studies were performed before and 30 min after intravenously administered indomethacin (6 mg/kg body weight). During normoxic conditions when PaO2 was 79 +/- 8 torr (mean +/- SEM), the mean anastomotic Qbr was 5.7 +/- 2.0 ml/min (n = 9). This flow increased to 8.3 +/- 2.5 ml/min (p less than 0.05) during hypoxemic conditions (PaO2, 38 +/- 3). The anastomotic Qbr increased from 5.8 +/- 1 to 9.0 +/- 2 ml/min (p less than 0.005) when PaCO2 was increased from 23 +/- 1 to 47 +/- 2 torr (n = 11). Pretreatment with intravenously administered indomethacin blocked both the hypoxemia-induced (n = 4) and hypercarbia-induced (n = 4) increases in anastomotic Qbr. We conclude that both hypoxemia and hypercarbia increased the anastomotic Qbr through a mechanism involving cyclooxygenase products of arachidonic acid.