title: Altered function of pulmonary surfactant in fatty acid lung injury.
abstract: To determine whether acute fatty acid lung injury impairs pulmonary surfactant function, we studied anesthetized ventilated rabbits given oleic acid (55 mg/kg iv, n = 11) or an equivalent volume of saline (n = 8). Measurements of pulmonary mechanics indicated a decrease in dynamic compliance within 5 min of injury and a decrease in lung volume that was disproportionately large at low pressures, consistent with diminished surfactant activity in vivo. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid obtained 1 h after injury had significantly increased erythrocytes and total leukocytes, largely polymorphonuclear cells. The phospholipid content and composition of the cell-free fraction had only minor changes from those of controls, but the protein content was increased 35-fold. Measurements of lavage surface activity in vitro showed an increase in average minimum surface tension from 1.3 +/- 0.4 (SE) dyn/cm in controls to 20.2 +/- 3.9 dyn/cm in injured animals. The alterations in static pressure-volume curves and decrease in lavage surface activity suggest a severe alteration of surfactant function in this form of lung injury that occurs despite the presence of normal amounts of surfactant phospholipids.
authors: Department of Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, New York 14642.
authors: S B
authors: SB
authors: Hall
authors: R H
authors: RH
authors: Notter
authors: R J
authors: RJ
authors: Smith
authors: R W
authors: RW
authors: Hyde
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001784:Blood Gas Analysis; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000737:chemistry; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000633:toxicity*; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology; D008170:Lung Compliance / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000502:physiology; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000378:metabolism; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000032:analysis; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants / Q000502:physiology*; D011817:Rabbits; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D013500:Surface Tension
chemical_list: D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D010743:Phospholipids; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants