Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 56, Issue 3 564-567, Copyright © 1984 by American Physiological Society
Adrenalectomy and surfactant in adult rats
D. Liebowitz, G. D. Massaro and D. Massaro
We examined the effect of adrenalectomy (ADX) on aspects of the surfactant
system of adult rats. Five days after bilateral ADX, ADX rats had about 20%
less disaturated phosphatidylcholine (DSPC) in lung lavage returns (airway
DSPC) than sham-operated rats, but the amount of tissue DSPC was not
different between the groups; airway DSPC formed 12.8 +/- 0.5% of total
DSPC (airway + tissue) in ADX and 15.9 +/- 0.7% in sham-ADX rats. An
ultrastructural morphometric analysis of alveolar type 2 cells did not
reveal an effect of ADX on lamellar body volume density or
surface-to-volume ratio. ADX rats had heavier lungs (not as a result of
edema) than sham-ADX rats. Treatment of ADX rats with hydrocortisone
returned the amount of DSPC toward normal and eliminated the increase of
lung weight. ADX did not alter the recoil of saline-filled lungs but did
slightly increase the recoil of air-filled lungs. We conclude that
corticosteroid hormones influence the in vivo functioning of the surfactant
system of adult rats, but this effect seems to be slight.
