Surfactant Abnormalities in Babies Dying From Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Increased expression of apoptosis signalling receptors by alveolar macrophages in sarcoidosis

“…In neonates with RDS, the most striking and consistent finding is a lack, or a greatly reduced amount, of phosphatidylglycerol [76,78,80,120] in addition to increased surface tension [120,121] and decreased amounts of total phospholipid and SP-A (table 4) [77,79]. In contrast to most other diseases investigated, studies in neonates have primarily used tracheobronchial aspirates or small-volume lavages instead of BAL.…”

“…Surfactant isolated from infants who died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) contained a reduced amount of phospholipid and had a composition that was altered to a similar degree to that found in RDS, except that the phosphatidylglycerol content was not decreased (table 4) [80,81]. In a prospective study, a reduced content of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine was similarly found and appeared to be related to the presence of bacterial organisms with reported phospholipase A 2 activity, and not to other factors investigated [144].…”

Age-dependency of surfactant phospholipids and surfactant protein A in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of children without bronchopulmonary disease

“…However, PC in these tracheal aspirates was not found to be a good predictor for the development of chronic lung disease [30]. The total phospholipid content of BALF is reduced in children dying of sudden infant death syndrome [14], but it is unclear whether this is a primary phenomenon or secondary to phospholipases produced by infectious organisms [15]. Chronic bacterial infection is also the cause of reduced surfactant concentrations in patients with cystic fibrosis, who are chronically colonized with Pseudomonas aeruginosa which is known to produce significant amounts of phospholipase [12,13].…”

“…Abnormalities of surfactant or one of its constituents have been described in the sudden infant death syndrome [14,15], in infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia [16], and in children with recurrent cyanotic episodes [17]. Studies of the phospholipid composition in paediatric lung diseases have been difficult to interpret, since reference values for this age group are lacking.…”

Alveolar Surfactant

“…Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the most common cause of death in infancy: It affects about one baby in every 500 dying between 1 week and 2 years in the United Kingdom (Morley et al, 1982). It has been found that surfactant from SIDS babies contained significantly less phospholipid and DPPC and relatively more phosphatidylglycerol than did that of babies dying from other causes (Morley et al, 1982).…”