BACKGROUND Mechanical ventilation (MV) is an essential supportive therapy for acute lung injury (ALI); however it can also contribute to systemic inflammation. Since pulmonary surfactant has anti-inflammatory properties, the aim of the study was to investigate the effect of exogenous surfactant administration on ventilation-induced systemic inflammation. METHODS Mice were randomized to receiv...

Two commonly used techniques in experimental lung research have helped to determine which variables influence surfactant distribution within the lung: radioactive labelling of surfactant components and admixture of coloured microspheres to surfactant. However, neither technique allows the description of surfactant distribution at the alveolar level. The aim of this study was to establish a new ...

The pulmonary surfactant and respiratory disease are tightly linked. Adequate surfactant activity remains critical for optimal lung function throughout life, and secondary surfactant dysfunction may contribute to the process of many lung diseases, including Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, asthma, cystic fibrosis and pneumonia among others. Attempts to treat these lung diseases with exogeno...

Besides being one of the mechanisms responsible for ventilator-induced lung injury, atelectasis also seems to aggravate the course of experimental pneumonia. In this study, we examined the effect of reducing the degree of atelectasis by natural modified surfactant and/or open lung ventilation on bacterial growth and translocation in a piglet model of Group B streptococcal pneumonia. After creat...

The effects of surfactant treatment on surfactant subtype conversion after lung injury were examined. Dogs were subjected to hyperventilation for 8 h with or without surfactant treatment. Lungs were stored for 17 h, and the right lung was transplanted and reperfused for 6 h. Conversion of large aggregate (LA) surfactant to small aggregates was investigated using in vitro surface area cycling. L...

INTRODUCTION Previous randomized trials failed to demonstrate a decrease in mortality of patients with acute lung injury treated by exogenous surfactant. The aim of this prospective randomized study was to evaluate the effects of exogenous porcine-derived surfactant on pulmonary reaeration and lung tissue in patients with acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS). M...

Lung injury due to mechanical ventilation is associated with an impairment of endogenous surfactant. It is unknown whether this impairment is a consequence of or an active contributor to the development and progression of lung injury. To investigate this issue, the present study addressed three questions: Do alterations to surfactant precede physiological lung dysfunction during mechanical vent...

BACKGROUND Prophylactic exogenous surfactant therapy is a promising way to attenuate the ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury associated with lung transplantation and thereby to decrease the clinical occurrence of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome. However, there is little information on the mode by which exogenous surfactant attenuates I/R injury of the lung. We hypoth...

Sepsis can predispose the lung to insults such as mechanical ventilation (MV). It was hypothesized that treating the lung with exogenous surfactant early in the development of sepsis will reduce the lung dysfunction associated with MV 18 h later. Mice underwent sham or cecal ligation and perforation (CLP) surgery. Immediately after surgery, mice were either untreated or given 100 mg/kg of bovin...