Phospholipase activities of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in rat Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.
Respiratory distress, main clinical symptom of P. carinii pneumonia, is unexplained. We wondered if it could be linked with a lung surfactant anomaly. We have shown in the bronchoalveolar fluid lavage of P. carinii-infected rats: a very significant decrease of the phospholipid content; a lowering of the phospholipid/protein ratio; and an increase in phospholipase activities, partly due to the activation of an inactive phospholipase into the active form. We conclude that, in P. carinii-infected rats, there is an increased catabolism of lung surfactant.
D000818:Animals; D001980:Bronchi / Q000201:enzymology; D010740:Phospholipases / Q000378:metabolism*; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000032:analysis; D011020:Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / Q000201:enzymology*; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000201:enzymology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D007507:Therapeutic Irrigation
D010743:Phospholipids; D011506:Proteins; D010740:Phospholipases