title: Surfactant protein-A concentration in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids of patients with pulmonary alveolar proteinosis.
abstract: Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is characterized by accumulation of large quantities of lipoproteinaceous materials in alveoli. Surfactant protein A (SP-A) is the predominant phospholipid-associated glycoprotein in pulmonary surfactant and is specific to the lung. The contents of SP-A in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids of patients with PAP were measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using two monoclonal antibodies to human SP-A to evaluate its usefulness for diagnosis. Concentration of SP-A in BAL fluid in PAP was significantly increased in comparison with that of normal volunteers. The ratio of SP-A to protein in BAL fluid of PAP was at almost the same level as in normal subjects, while the ratio of SP-A to phospholipid in PAP was significantly higher. These results indicate that measurement of BAL fluid SP-A is of clinical value for diagnosis of PAP and should be used as a biochemical diagnostic tool in the clinical laboratory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Sapporo Medical College, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shijubo
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kuroki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Akino
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000737:chemistry*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000032:analysis; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D011510:Proteolipids / Q000032:analysis*; D011649:Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D037662:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein A; D037661:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Proteins; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D010743:Phospholipids; D011506:Proteins; D011510:Proteolipids; D037662:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein A; D037661:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Proteins; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants