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J Appl Physiol (December 19, 2003). doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00898.2003
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Submitted on August 22, 2003
Accepted on December 8, 2003

Surfactant from Diving Aquatic Mammals

Roger G Spragg1*, Paul J Ponganis2, James J Marsh1, Gunnar A Rau3, and Wolfgang Bernhard4

1 Medicine, UC San Diego and San Diego Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA
2 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
3 Pediatric Pulmonology and Neonatology, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany
4 Pediatrics, University of Tubingen, Tubingen, Germany

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rspragg{at}ucsd.edu.

Diving mammals that descend to depths of 50-70 meters or greater fully collapse the gas exchanging portions of their lungs and then re-expand these areas with ascent. To investigate whether these animals may have evolved a uniquely developed surfactant system to facilitate repetitive alveolar collapse and expansion, we have analyzed surfactant in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) obtained from nine pinnipeds and from pigs and humans. In contrast to BAL from terrestrial mammals, that from pinnipeds has a higher concentration of phospholipid and relatively more fluidic phosphatidylcholine molecular species, perhaps to facilitate rapid spreading during alveolar re-expansion. Normalized concentrations of hydrophobic surfactant proteins B and C were not significantly different among pinnipeds and terrestrial mammals by immunologic assay, but separation of proteins by gel electrophoresis indicated a greater content of SP-B in elephant seal surfactant than in human surfactant. Remarkably, surfactant from the deepest diving pinnipeds produced moderately elevated in-vitro minimum surface tension measurements, a finding not explained by the presence of protein or neutral lipid inhibitors. Further study of the composition and function of pinniped surfactants may contribute to the design of optimized therapeutic surfactants.




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