Abstract
Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) in premature infants is associated with a deficiency of pulmonary surfactant. Disaturated phosphatidylcholine (DSPC) is the major phospholipid component of surfactant. We have utilized the osmium tetroxide (0s04)technique described by Mason et al. (J. Lipid Res. 17:282, 1976) to isolate DSPC from amniotic fluid. The DSPC fraction is quantitated on thin layer chromatography by spectrodensitometry. The L/S ratio and DSPC concentration were determined for 100 consecutive uncontaminated amniotic fluid samples. Both correlated with gestational age (p < .01) and with each other (γ=0.70, p < .01). Using the L/S ratios and DSPC concentrations from 60 uncontaminated samples obtained within 72 hours of delivery enabled us to predict pulmonary maturity; however, the table below demonstrates that DSPC predicts RDS more accurately than does the L/S ratio:DSPC also provides: 1)specificity for pulmonary lecithin, circumventing spurious results due to non-pulmonary lecithins, including blood and meconium contamination and 2)ready adaptability to pre-existing instrumentation for determining the L/S ratio with no added expense. Supported by a grant from the C.H. Hood Foundation.
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