An Update of Surfactant

Abstract

In preterm infants, RDS is primarily caused by deficiency of pulmonary surfactant in an immature lung. For the past 50 years, related research and experiments with regards to surfactant replacement therapy have been encouraging and inspiring.Numerous trials have been conducted to demonstrate that surfactant plays an important role in the management of respiratory distress syndrome in preterm babies, whether it is synthetic, natural or recombinant. The use of surfactant regarding aspects of other disease has been explored as well, including meconium aspiration syndrome, congenital pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.With the advance of science, the molecular structure and function of most surfactant components has been well understood and well established. Pulmonary surfactant associated proteins (SPs) consist of a heterogeneous composition of lipids and proteins and it has been identified as SP-A, SP-B, SP-C, and SP-D.Recently, US FDA approved the first synthetic peptide-containing surfactant (Lucinactant) to treat RDS in preterm newborns. Surfactant replacement therapy has been one of the greatest achievements in the management of preterm newborns in the past few decades.