title: Surfactant protein A and stable microbubble formation in tracheal aspirates.
abstract: This study aimed to determine the role of surfactant protein A (SP-A) in the formation of stable microbubble in tracheal aspirates. Our results showed that as the concentration of anti SP-A antibodies added to tracheal aspirate specimens increased, the number of stable microbubble formed in the specimen decreased. The correlation between stable microbubble counts and the SP-A levels in the tracheal aspirates was good, r = 0.85, p < 0.05. This study suggests that SP-A plays an important role in stable microbubble formation. Measurement of small stable microbubbles is thus a useful bedside test for predicting the SP-A activity in the tracheal aspirates and in indirect measurement of lung maturity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: K B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Cheong
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Cheong
authors.forename: N Y
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Boo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D001239:Inhalation; D008863:Microspheres; D011510:Proteolipids / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D037662:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein A; D037661:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Proteins; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012127:Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000378:metabolism; D014132:Trachea / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011510:Proteolipids; D037662:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein A; D037661:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Proteins; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine