Changes in the amount of lung and airway phosphatidylcholine in 0.5-12.5-day-old rabbits

Newborn rabbits delivered spontaneously at term and cared for by the mothers were studied from 0.5 to 12.5 days of age. Curves are constructed to describe the changes in weight, lung and alveolar wash phosphatidylcholine and saturated phosphatidylcholine, and lung protein. The curves are complex and non-linear. However. expressing the increases in lung and alveolar wash phosphatidylcholine and saturated phosphatidylcholine pool sizes relative to animals weight results in a decreasing linear relationship from 0.5 to 12.5 days of age. By 12.5 days the ratios of lung phosphatidylcholine and saturated phosphatidylcholine to weight approximate the ratios measured for adult rabbits. The ratios of saturated to total phosphatidylcholine in the alveolar washes and lungs remained invarient throughout the study period.