Introduction. Gold- (Au-) based nanomaterials have shown promising potential in nanomedicine. The individual health status is an important determinant of the response to injury/exposure. It is, therefore, critical to evaluate exposure to Au-nanomaterials with varied preexisting health status. Objective. The goal of this research was to determine the extent of extrapulmonary translocation from healthy and inflamed lungs after pulmonary exposure to AuNPs. Male BALB/c mice received a single dose of 0.8 mg · kg−1 AuNPs (40 nm) by oropharyngeal aspiration 24 hours after priming with LPS (0.4 mg · kg−1) through the same route. Metal contents were analyzed in different organs by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results. Oropharyngeal aspiration resulted in high metal concentrations in lungs (P