title: Phagocyte-induced lipid peroxidation of lung surfactant.
abstract: Surfactant therapy is given routinely to premature newborns with respiratory failure. However, alterations in surfactants have been shown to be a significant factor in some forms of respiratory failure in newborns in animal models of lung injury. To investigate whether antioxidant supplementation might help to protect exogenous surfactant from damage by oxygen free radicals, we examined the influence of vitamin E in combination with surfactant on superoxide production as estimated by the nitroblue tetrazolium reduction test, and measured surfactant peroxidation with a new colorimetric method with or without addition of superoxide dismutase (SOD) or vitamin E. Our results showed that surfactant interacts with free radicals; surfactant reduced superoxide production by neutrophils and was peroxidized when incubated with resting and with stimulated cells. Vitamin E supplementation decreased superoxide radical production and in a dose-dependent manner decreased surfactant peroxidation. The decrease in lipid peroxidation by SOD was not significant. These findings suggest that phagocytes induce lipid peroxidation of lung surfactant, a reaction that might be prevented by antioxidants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Microbiology, Pathology, and Infectious Diseases, Huddinge Hospital, Karolinska Institute, Sweden.
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Bouhafs
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jarstrand
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000378:metabolism; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D009580:Nitroblue Tetrazolium; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants / Q000378:metabolism*; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000096:biosynthesis; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants; D014810:Vitamin E; D009580:Nitroblue Tetrazolium; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase