title: Lysis of red blood cells and alveolar epithelial toxicity by therapeutic pulmonary surfactants.
abstract: The risk of pulmonary hemorrhage is increased in extremely low birth weight infants treated with surfactant. The pathogenesis of this increased risk is far from clear. We tested whether exposure of cell membranes to surfactant may lead to increased membrane permeability, hypothesizing that this process may contribute to the occurrence of alveolar hemorrhage after surfactant treatment. Aliquots of washed packed red blood cells (used as membrane model) were suspended in 0.9% NaCl with various concentrations of Survanta or Exosurf for either 2 or 24 h at 37 degrees C. Cytolysis was measured by spectrophotometric determination of free Hb after centrifugation. Red cells suspended in 0.9% NaCl alone, distilled water, or various concentrations of melittin were used as negative and positive controls. Both surfactants were associated with increased hemolysis to 35% of maximum at concentrations of 1.25 mg/2 mL. Above these concentrations, Survanta was associated with no increase in hemolysis, whereas Exosurf increased hemolysis to 60% of maximum at concentrations of 12.5 mg/2 mL. In additional experiments, primary cultures of alveolar type II cells from adult rats were treated with Survanta, Exosurf, the Exosurf components tyloxapol and hexadecanol, melittin, or culture medium alone. After 24 h of incubation, lactate dehydrogenase release into the media was measured as a percent of total lactate dehydrogenase activity to indicate cytotoxicity. Lactate dehydrogenase release was < 10% for control experiments but increased sharply with Exosurf and its components tyloxapol and hexadecanol. These results indicate that surfactant may be associated with in vitro cytotoxicity and that this property differs for different surfactants and different dosages.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Martin Luther King, Jr/Drew University Medical Center, UCLA School of Medicine 90059.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Findlay
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Taeusch
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: David-Cu
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Walther
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001688:Biological Products; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D004848:Epithelium / Q000187:drug effects; D005233:Fatty Alcohols / Q000633:toxicity; D006461:Hemolysis / Q000187:drug effects*; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000139:chemically induced; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D010767:Phosphorylcholine; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000633:toxicity; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants / Q000633:toxicity*; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005233:Fatty Alcohols; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants; D010767:Phosphorylcholine; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; C047049:dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine, hexadecanol, tyloxapol drug combination; C072197:beractant