ABSTRACT
Endogenous surfactant can also be obtained by isolating lamellar bodies from animal lung tissue homogenates (e.g., [305, 391, 397, 863, 1020]). Purification procedures for lamellar bodies are much more complex than surfactant isolation in BAL and require multiple steps of conventional and density gradient centrifugation. Analysis of lamellar body contents has been very helpful in understanding surfactant biosynthesis in the type II cell, as well as in defining relationships
with 0.15M NaCl
Cells removed by centrifugation at 150-200x g
eg 10,000x g
Figure 5-2 Endogenous lung surfactant obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage. The simplest and most direct method of obtaining alveolar surfactant is to wash it from the airspaces of fresh, intact lungs by bronchoalveolar lavage with normal saline. Surfactant aggregates are then pelleted by simple centrifugation. Endogenous lung surfactant can also be processed by more elaborate procedures from lung tissue. See text for details.
