[Changes in the pulmonary surfactant system during and after prolonged starvation]

In experiments on 76 white rats, a complex of physical and morphological techniques was used to study the state of the lung surfactant system in varying time after complete starvation and a possibility of its recovery with large doses of vitamin A. 4--5 day starvation without water restriction induced a significant decrease in surfactant secretion and diminution of its content in the alveolar lining. The intracellular reserves of the surfactant got recovered 4 weeks after the starvation was discontinued but the surface activity of the alveolar lining did not yet return to the initial level. Supplementary administration of large doses of vitamin A to rats by mouth after discontinuance of starvation led in two weeks to normalization of all the parameters characterizing the state of the lung surfactant system.