New Activity on Lung Surfactant

Abstract

The importance of surface tension at the alveolar interface was demonstrated in 1929,¹ and lung extracts capable of markedly lowering surface tension were described by Pattle² in 1955. Although in the intervening years there has been widespread interest in lung surfactant and over 300 publications have appeared, several basic problems remain. The alveolar lining layer has been difficult to demonstrate anatomically, the chemical identity and quantity of surfactant in man is still unknown, and the physical properties are not well understood. Deficiency or inactivation of lung surfactant has been implicated as part of the pathophysiology of many diseases, but the . . .