Chest
Surfactant Protein-A Concentration in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluids of Patients With Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis
Section snippets
Study Population
Normal Volunteers: Thirteen normal volunteers participated in this study. Their median age was 30 years (range: 19 to 44 years). Nine were nonsmokers and four were smokers.
Patients With Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis: Six patients with PAP were included in this study (Table 1). The median age was 34 years (range: 17 to 45 years). Three were smokers and the other three were nonsmokers. Four patients complained of cough and dyspnea, but two had no symptoms. On the chest x-ray film, bilateral
RESULTS
Figure 1 shows the protein and phospholipid concentrations in the BAL fluids. High levels of protein content in BAL fluid were found in subjects with PAP (1,401 ±411 µg/ml), while the average of this quantity in normal subjects (healthy volunteers [HVs]) was (125 ±33 µg/ml). The protein concentration in BAL fluid was significantly increased (p<0.001) in PAP compared with normal subjects. The averages of phospholipid concentration in BAL fluid of patients with PAP and normal subjects were 104 ±
DISCUSSION
In the alveoli of patients with PAP, there is an impaired alveolar clearance of proteinaceous materials. Many investigators have reported biochemical analyses of BAL fluids of PAP including determination of proteins and phospholipids.1, 2, 3, 4 The amounts of protein and phospholipid were found to be significantly increased in contrast to normal subjects. However, elevated proteins and phospholipids do not necessarily indicate abnormal accumulation of pulmonary surfactant. We have reported the
REFERENCES (23)
- et al.
Alterations of acidic phospholipids in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids of patients with pulmonary alveolar proteinosis
Clin Chim Acta
(1989) - et al.
Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis: staining for surfactant apoprotein in alveolar proteinosis and in conditions simulating it
Chest
(1983) - et al.
Surfactant apoprotein-A concentration in sputum for diagnosis of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis
Lancet
(1991) - et al.
Surfactant apoprotein Mr=26,000-36,000 enhances uptake of liposomes by type II cells
J Biol Chem
(1987) - et al.
Alveolar phospholipids in pulmonary alveolar proteinosis
Tohoku J Exp Med
(1978) - et al.
Lipids found in pulmonary lavage of patients with alveolar proteinosis and in rabbit lung lamellar organelles
Am Rev Respir Dis
(1976) - et al.
Biochemical characterization of pulmonary washings of patients with alveolar proteinosis, interstitial pneumonitis and alveolar cell carcinoma
Tohoku J Exp Med
(1983) - et al.
Surfactant-active materials from dog lung: II. Composition and physiological correlations
Am J Physiol
(1972) A proposed nomenclature for surfactant-associated proteins
Am Rev Respir Dis
(1988)- et al.
Monoclonal antibodies against human surfactant apoproteins: specificity and application in immunoassay
Biochim Biophys Acta
(1985)
Two-site simultaneous immunoassay with monoclonal antibodies for determination of surfactant apoproteins in human amniotic fluid
Pediatr Res
Cited by (0)
This study was supported in part by a Grant-In-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Japan.