title: Acceleration of fetal lung maturation by aminophyllin in pregnant rabbits.
abstract: To test the hypothesis that fetal lung maturation can be accelerated by one of the xanthine derivatives, aminophyllin was given to 40 pregnant rabbits beginning on the 20th gestational day for a period of 7-10 days. The fetuses were delivered by cesarean section and fetal lung maturity was assessed by determining the biochemical, functional, and ultrastructural characteristics of aminophyllin-treated vs. control animals. The phospholipid content of the lung tissue homogenate from the aminophyllin-treated group was significantly higher than in the control subjects (saline injected) at 28 days of gestation (421 +/- 9 vs. 368 +/- 12 mug/mg wet wt, mean +/- SEM) and at 29 days of gestation (531 +/- 10 vs. 475 +/- 20). The alveolar wash phospholipid content of the aminophyllin-treated group was higher at 30 days (167 +/- 9 mug/mg dry wt, mean +/- SEM vs. 117 +/- 17). The lung compliance derived from pressure volume curves was also significantly higher in the aminophyllin-treated group when compared with controls at 27 days of gestation (0.023 +/- 0.0005 ml/cm H2O, mean +/- SEM vs 0.010 +/- 0.0002) and at 28 days of gestation (0.048 +/- 0.0003 vs 0.035 +/- 0.0006). There was no significant difference in the number of lamellar bodies in the type II cells between the aminophyllin-treated and the control groups. The data show that aminophyllin has accelerating effects on fetal lung maturation in rabbits when the drug is given to pregnant rabbits during the last 7-10 days of gestation.
mesh_terms: D000628:Aminophylline / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology* / Q000254:growth & development; D008170:Lung Compliance; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000032:analysis; D011247:Pregnancy; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D010743:Phospholipids; D000628:Aminophylline