Showing papers by "Richard J. King published in 1999"
TL;DR: The results indicate that in chronic lung injury, SP-A is significantly reduced in the alveolar space and may present additional risk to those premature infants who require prolonged periods of ventilatory support.
Abstract: Surfactant proteins A and D (SP-A and SP-D) are believed to participate in the pulmonary host defense and the response to lung injury. In order to understand the effects of prematurity and lung injury on these proteins, we measured the amounts of SP-A and SP-D and their mRNAs in three groups of animals: (1) nonventilated premature baboon fetuses; (2) neonatal baboons delivered prematurely at 140 d gestation age (ga) and ventilated with PRN O2; (3) animals of the same age ventilated with 100% O2 to induce chronic lung injury. In nonventilated fetuses, tissue and lavage SP-A were barely detectable in baboons of 125 and 140 d ga, but they equaled or exceeded adult SP-A concentrations (g/g lung dry wt) at 175 d (term gestation, 185 d). In contrast, SP-D was readily detectable in tissue and lavage at 125 and 140 d ga. When the baboons of 140 d ga were ventilated for 10 d with 100% oxygen to produce chronic lung injury, the tissue concentration of SP-A was five times greater than that of normal adults; SP-D 16-...
75 citations