The European respiratory journal : official journal of the European Society for Clinical Respiratory Physiology
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Surfactant protein A and other bronchoalveolar lavage fluid proteins are altered in cystic fibrosis.
Inflammation and proteolytic processes play an important role in the progression of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease. The goal of this study was to describe bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) protein pattern of CF patients in comparison to controls and to assess if there is proteolytic degradation of surfactant protein A (SP-A), an important innate host defence component of the lungs. BALFs from 17 clinically stable CF patients and from eight healthy children were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. ⋯ Degradation of SP-A was present in 15 of 17 CF BALFs but in none of the controls, in contrast polymeric isoforms were seen in all controls and in four of 17 CF patients. Proteolytic damage to surfactant protein A and significant changes of normal bronchoalveolar lavage fluid proteins occur in lungs of cystic fibrosis patients. Identification of altered bronchoalveolar lavage fluid proteins may give new insights into pathogenic mechanisms and provide new targets for therapy.
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Understanding of the elastic pressure/volume (Pel/V) curve is still limited in health and disease. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the Pel/V curve and elastance of the respiratory system (ERS) lung (EL) and chest wall (ECW) in healthy pigs. Six young (20.8 kg) and seven adult (58.9 kg), anaesthetized, paralysed and ventilated pigs were studied. ⋯ At PEEP, such signs of collapse and recruitment were reduced. A strong tendency to lung collapse contributes to a complex pattern of elastic pressure/volume curves. At low volumes and distending pressures the chest wall contributes significantly to changes in respiratory system elastance.