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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Surfactant Depletion Combined with Injurious Ventilation Results in a Reproducible Model of the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
Published on: April 7, 2021
Surfactant catabolism
1Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Division of Pulmonary Biology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA. machiko.ikegami@cchmc.org
Abstract:
Alveolar pulmonary surfactant is a complex of macromolecular aggregates composed of phospholipids and surfactant proteins (SP) that is essential for maintenance of normal lung function. The importance of surfactant homeostasis is recognized in the patients and the animal models with pulmonary disease, although the mechanisms of surfactant homeostasis are not fully understood. In this review the author will discuss: (i) the mechanisms of the surfactant catabolism by macrophage and type II cells; and (ii) the important role of SP-D on ultrastructure of surfactant that affects uptake by type II cells.
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