Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) in the elderly is the most common cause of mortality in critically ill elderly patients, and it is different from MODS in the adult in clinic. Rare studies have been done on its pathogenesis and the comparison between adult and elderly MODS animal models. This work aimed at exploring the mechanisms mediating elderly MODS and compared this with adult MODS. Male Sprague-Dawley aged and adult rats were intraperitoneally injected with zymosan for incitement of MODS. Aged rats receiving zymosan showed severer pulmonary, cardiac and renal dysfunctions than adult rats. Likewise, the tissue lesions under light microscope in major organs of zymosan treated aged rats were much worse than those of zymosan treated adult rats. Moreover, zymosan treated aged rats showed 142% and 64% greater increase in pulmonary alveolar macrophages (AMs) apoptotic rate and serum TNF-alpha level, respectively, whereas 43% smaller increase in serum IL-10 level compared to zymosan treated adult rats. Furthermore, lung injury was much worse than that in other organs in zymosan treated aged rats. Overall, these results suggest that zymosan can be used in aged rats to incite MODS in the elderly. In the animal model of elderly MODS, there are (1) severer injury in lung, heart and kidney vs adult; (2) easier to develop severe systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) instead of compensatory anti-inflammatory response syndrome (CARS) compared to the adult; and (3) severer inflammation in lung than other organs indicative of the possible roles of lung in triggering MODS in the elderly.